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Function of the Kidneys

 

Kidneys are truly impressive organs. The more you learn, the more you’ll understand why you want to help keep them healthy.

Another word for kidney is renal. You may hear your doctor talk about renal function or read materials that mention renal failure. Whenever you see or hear the word renal, you will know the subject is about kidneys.

What do the kidneys do?

They kidneys have a couple of different functions.  Their main purpose of the kidney is to separate urea, mineral salts, toxins, and other waste products from the blood, especially a nitrogen-containing compound called urea.  

The kidneys control the quantity and quality of fluids within the body, conserving water, salts, and electrolytes. They also produce hormones and vitamins that direct cell activities in many organs. The hormone renin, for example, helps control blood pressure. When the kidneys are not working properly, waste products and fluid can build up to dangerous levels, creating a life-threatening situation.  They also produce a hormone called erythropoietin, which tells the bone marrow to make red blood cells, and one called calcitriol helps to keep bones strong.

Among the important substances the kidneys help to control are sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate HCO3- (measured indirectly as CO2), pH, calcium, phosphate, and magnesium. 

About 180 litres of water filters through your kidneys every day, but only about 1.5 litres finally leaves your body as urine.  At least one kidney must function properly for life to be maintained.

• Filter the blood
• Balance fluid content in the body
• Produce the enzyme renin that helps control blood pressure
• Produce the hormone erythropoietin to help make red blood cells
• Activate vitamin D to maintain healthy bones
• Adjust levels of minerals and other chemicals to keep the body working properly

 

How kidneys do their jobs

Inside each kidney is approximately one million tiny filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron has a glomerulus and tubules. The glomerulus is a series of specialized capillary loops where water and small particles are filtered from the blood. The waste and extra fluids then travel through the tube-like structure of the tubules where several processes take place to turn those fluids into urine. The tubules lead to the collecting duct where the urine is drained into a funnel-shaped sac called the renal pelvis. Each kidney has a ureter that connects the renal pelvis to the bladder. The urine from the kidneys flows down the ureters into the bladder and is then passed out of the body through the urethra.

The basic function of kidneys begins when you eat and drink. After the body takes the nutrients it needs, the extras become wastes. Some of the waste winds up in the blood and needs to be filtered out. The blood gets circulated through the body with every beat of the heart. It’s the job of the kidneys—with their millions of nephrons—to filter and clean out the blood and remove the extra fluids.  The extra fluid and waste becomes urine and travels from the kidneys down the ureters to the bladder until eliminated through the urethra.

 

 

What is a kidney stone?

A kidney stone is a hard mass developed from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. Kidney stones occur in roughly one in 10 people in the United States. Once a person gets more than one stone, others are likely to develop. Kidney stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones occur in 1 in 20 people at some time in their life.

What causes kidney stones?

The development of the stones is related to decreased urine volume or increased excretion of stone-forming components such as calcium, oxalate, urate, cystine, xanthine, and phosphate. The stones form in the urine collecting area (the pelvis) of the kidney and may range in size from tiny to staghorn stones the size of the renal pelvis itself.

The cystine stones (below) compared in size to a quarter were obtained from the kidney of a young woman by percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PNL), a procedure for crushing and removing the dense stubborn stones characteristic of cystinuria.

What are symptoms of kidney stones?

Kidney stones cause pain. The pain with kidney stones is usually of sudden onset, very severe and colicky (intermittent), not improved by changes in position, radiating from the back, down the flank, and into the groin. Nausea and vomiting are common.

Lower back pain	edema ("water holding")	like lungs edema
arms edema	legs edema	abdomen edema

What factors predispose to the development of kidney stones?

Factors predisposing to kidney stones include recent reduction in fluid intake, increased exercise with dehydration, medications that cause hyperuricemia (high uric acid) and a history of gout.

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