Capsaicin-sensitive primary afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system are widely distributed to both the somatic and visceral territories: their inactivation following capsaicin "desensitization" is expected to produce analgesia and to be useful for a number of human diseases such as asthma, urinary incontinence, inflammatory diseases of the gut, arthritis and psoriasis. The present communication reviews the therapeutic potential of capsaicin-like drugs in the pathophysiology of the mammalian urinary bladder.