K as in
kidney
Everybody knows that some organs in the human body are necessary for
survival. You need your brain, your
heart, your lungs, your kidneys ...
KIDNEYS? Absolutely
. Even though you won't find a Valentine's Day card with a kidney on the cover, the kidneys
are every bit as important as the heart.
You need at least one kidney to live!
Kidneys normally
come in pairs. If you've ever seen a kidney
bean, then you have a pretty good idea what the kidneys look like. Each kidney is about 5 inches (about 13 centimeters)
long and about 3 inches (about 8 centimeters) wide — about the size of a
computer mouse.
Cleaning Up
One of the main jobs of the kidneys is to filter the waste out of the
blood. How does the waste get in your
blood? Well, your blood delivers
nutrients to your body. Chemical
reactions occur in the cells of your body to break down the nutrients. Some of the waste is the result of these
chemical reactions. Some is just stuff
your body doesn't need because it already has enough. The waste has to go somewhere so this is
where the kidneys
come in.
First, blood is carried into the kidneys by the renal artery (anything in the body related to the kidneys
is called "renal"). The
average person has 1 to 1½ gallons of blood circulating through his or her
body. The kidneys filter that blood as many as
400 times a day! More than 1 million
tiny filters inside the kidneys remove the waste. These filters, called nephrons are so small you
can see them only with a high-powered microscope.
The Path of Pee
The waste that is collected combines with water (which is also
filtered out of the kidneys) to make urine . As each kidney makes urine, the urine slides down a long
tube called the ureter and collects in the bladder, a storage sac
that holds the urine. When the bladder
is about halfway full, your body tells you to go to the bathroom. When you pee, the urine goes from the bladder
down another tube called the urethra
and out of your body.
The kidneys,
the bladder, and their tubes are called the urinary system. Here's a list of all of the parts of the
urinary system:
•
the kidneys:
filters that take the waste out of the blood and make urine
•
the ureters: tubes that carry the urine from each kidney to the bladder
•
the bladder: a bag that collects the urine
•
the urethra: a tube that carries the urine from the bladder out of the
body
Keeping a Balance
The kidneys
also balance the volume of fluids and minerals in the body. This balance in the body is called homeostasis.
If you put all of the water that you take in on one side of a scale
and all of the water your body gets rid of on the other side of a scale, the
sides of the scale would be balanced.
Your body gets water when you
drink it or other liquids. You also get
water from some foods, like fruits and vegetables.
Water leaves your body in several ways. It comes out of your skin when you sweat, out
of your mouth when you breathe, and out of your urethra in urine when you go to
the bathroom. There is also water in
your bowel movements.
When you feel thirsty, your brain is telling you to get more fluids to
keep your body as balanced as possible.
If you don't have enough fluids in your body, the brain communicates
with the kidneys by sending out a hormone that
tells the kidneys
to hold on to some fluids. When you
drink more, this hormone level goes down, and the kidneys will let go of more fluids.
You might notice that sometimes your urine is darker in color than
other times. Remember, urine is made up
of water plus the waste that is filtered out of the blood. If you don't take in a lot of fluids or if
you're exercising and sweating a lot, your urine has less water in it and it
appears darker. If you're drinking lots
of fluids, the extra fluid comes out in your urine, and it will be lighter.
Kidneys are
essential to having a healthy body.
Kidney disease
occurs when one or more conditions damage your kidneys, keeping them from operating
properly. This can lead to health
problems including high blood pressure, weak bones, nerve damage, and poor
nutritional health.
Illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and a host of other
chronic conditions can cause kidney disease.
Kidney
disease that gets worse can cause your kidneys to completely fail, which ultimately will
require dialysis (a medical procedure) to clean your blood.
So stay hydrated, drink your fluids and move and sit properly
according to the NIMBLE method. Don’t
wear clothes that are too tight and squeeze your kidneys in!
Kidney disease
occurs when one or more conditions damage your kidneys, keeping them from operating
properly. This can lead to health
problems including high blood pressure, weak bones, nerve damage, and poor
nutritional health.
Illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and a host of other
chronic conditions can cause kidney disease.
Kidney
disease that gets worse can cause your kidneys to completely fail, which ultimately will
require dialysis (a medical procedure) to clean your blood.
So stay hydrated, drink your fluids and move and sit properly
according to the NIMBLE method. Don’t
wear clothes that are too tight and squeeze your kidneys in!
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