Why Are Your Kidneys So Important
Your kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They are located near the middle of your back, just below the rib cage. Kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines in the body. Every day, your kidneys processes and re-processes your blood to sift out waste products and extra water. This is changed into urine, which flows to your bladder through internal tubes called ureters. Urine is stored in the bladder until you go to the bathroom.
The waste products in your blood come from different parts of the body and from the food you eat. Your body uses food for energy and self-repair. After your body absorbs what it needs from food and changes it to energy, some of the byproduct is sent to the kidneys to either recycle back to the body or excrete as urine. If your kidneys did not remove these by-products as urine, waste would accumulate and damage your body and ability to function. The urine that we excrete takes a few hours to produce.
In addition to removing wastes, your kidneys also are responsible for regulating blood pressure. Other important kidney functions are maintaining bone health and helping keep the bodys hemoglobin body within normal levels.
So, in summary, your kidneys are powerful chemical factories in your body that perform these functions:
Remove waste products from the body
Balance the bodys fluids
Release hormones that maintain or elevate blood pressure, maintain bone health and control the production of red blood cells.
Why Do You Need It Kidney Function Test
A fast summary of kidney work testing.
Along one or the other side of the spine, you have two kidneys, each about the size of a huge clenched hand. Theyre put underneath the ribs and behind your stomach.
Your kidneys assume a critical part in your general prosperity. One of its most significant capacities is to channel squander things from the blood and discharge them as pee. The kidneys likewise assist the body with managing water and other fundamental substances.
Theyre likewise vital for the formation of:
How Can You Live Without One Of Your Kidneys
This is an excellent question, especially because kidney disease and kidney transplants are so common . Most humans are born with two kidneys as the functional components of what is called the renal system, which also includes two ureters, a bladder and a urethra. The kidneys have many functions, including regulating blood pressure, producing red blood cells, activating vitamin D and producing some glucose. Most evidently, however, the kidneys filter body fluids via the bloodstream to regulate and optimize their amount, composition, pH and osmotic pressure. Excess water, electrolytes, nitrogen and other wastes get excreted as urine. These functions maintain and optimize the “milieu interieur” of the body–the fluids in which our cells live.
Life is incompatible with a lack of kidney function . But unlike the case with most other organs, we are born with an overabundant–or overengineered–kidney capacity. Indeed, a single kidney with only 75 percent of its functional capacity can sustain life very well.
This overengineering supplies us with 1.2 million of the basic functional filtering element, the microscopic nephron, in each kidney. Nephrons are tiny tubes that filter the blood plasma, adjust and then return optimized fluid to the body. Under most conditions, though totaling only a few pounds, the kidneys receive about 20 percent of all the blood pumped from the heart. Each day, about 120 liters of fluid and particles enter into the nephron to be filtered.
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Why Are The Kidneys So Important
Most people know that a major function of the kidneys is to remove waste products and excess fluid from the body. These waste products and excess fluid are removed through the urine. The production of urine involves highly complex steps of excretion and re-absorption. This process is necessary to maintain a stable balance of body chemicals.
The critical regulation of the body’s salt, potassium and acid content is performed by the kidneys. The kidneys also produce hormones that affect the function of other organs. For example, a hormone produced by the kidneys stimulates red blood cell production. Other hormones produced by the kidneys help regulate blood pressure and control calcium metabolism.
The kidneys are powerful chemical factories that perform the following functions:
- remove waste products from the body
- remove drugs from the body
- balance the body’s fluids
- release hormones that regulate blood pressure
- produce an active form of vitamin D that promotes strong, healthy bones
- control the production of red blood cells
Below you will find more information about the kidneys and the vital role they play in keeping your body functioning.
How Can I Keep My Kidneys Healthy
Its important to have regular checkups and blood and urine tests to measure your kidneys health. You can reduce your risk of developing a kidney problem by:
- Avoiding or quitting smoking and using tobacco products. Your provider can help you find ways to quit.
- Cutting out excess salt, which can affect the balance of minerals in your blood.
- Increasing daily exercise, which can reduce high blood pressure.
- Limiting your use of NSAIDs. NSAIDs can cause kidney damage if you take them too much.
- Watching your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes.
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What Are The First Signs Of Kidney Problems
Most kidney problems dont have signs in their early stages. As kidney damage progresses, you may notice:
- Cramping muscles: Electrolyte imbalances cause your muscles to stiffen.
- Dark urine or urine with blood in it: Damage to your kidneys filters lets blood cells leak into your urine.
- Foamy urine: Bubbles in your pee can signal excess protein.
- Itchy, dry skin: An imbalance of minerals and nutrients in your blood leads to itchy skin.
- More frequent urination: Problems filtering waste cause you to pee more often.
- Puffy eyes or swollen ankles and feet: Reduced kidney function can cause your body to hold onto protein and sodium, resulting in swelling.
- Sleep problems, fatigue and lack of appetite: If toxins build up in your blood, your sleep, appetite and energy levels may be off.
Kidney And Urinary System Parts And Their Functions
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Two kidneys. This pair of purplish-brown organs is located below the ribs toward the middle of the back. Their function is to:
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Remove waste products and drugs from the body
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Balance the body’s fluids
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Release hormones to regulate blood pressure
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Control production of red blood cells
The kidneys remove urea from the blood through tiny filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron consists of a ball formed of small blood capillaries, called a glomerulus, and a small tube called a renal tubule. Urea, together with water and other waste substances, forms the urine as it passes through the nephrons and down the renal tubules of the kidney.
Two sphincter muscles. These circular muscles help keep urine from leaking by closing tightly like a rubber band around the opening of the bladder.
Nerves in the bladder. The nerves alert a person when it is time to urinate, or empty the bladder.
Urethra. This tube allows urine to pass outside the body. The brain signals the bladder muscles to tighten, which squeezes urine out of the bladder. At the same time, the brain signals the sphincter muscles to relax to let urine exit the bladder through the urethra. When all the signals occur in the correct order, normal urination occurs.
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What Are The Kidneys
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that filter your blood. Your kidneys are part of your urinary system.
Your kidneys filter about 200 quarts of fluid every day enough to fill a large bathtub. During this process, your kidneys remove waste, which leaves your body as urine . Most people pee about two quarts daily. Your body re-uses the other 198 quarts of fluid.
Your kidneys also help balance your bodys fluids and electrolytes. Electrolytes are essential minerals that include sodium and potassium.
What Happens If My Kidneys Fail
If your kidneys fail, that means they have completely stopped doing their job to filter waste from your blood. Kidney failure is also called end-stage renal disease. Waste may build up in your blood and cause health problems, such as:
If this happens, you will need to start dialysis or have a kidney transplant to live.
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What Are The Elements Of Your Kidneys
Your urinary framework incorporates your kidneys. The two kidneys are found right underneath the ribcage toward the rear of your gut.
They help your body in separating waste things and discharging them as pee. Your kidneys are likewise fundamental for the development of:
Chemicals that hold circulatory strain within proper limits.
Your bodys oxygen-conveying red platelets.
Vitamin D is fundamental for bone and muscle work.
What Causes Kidney Failure
The most common causes of kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure. Sometimes, though, kidney failure happens quickly due to an unforeseen cause.
When the kidneys lose function suddenly , its called acute kidney failure . This type of kidney failure is often temporary. Common causes of acute kidney failure can include:
- Autoimmune kidney diseases
- A urinary tract obstruction
- Uncontrolled systemic disease like heart or liver disease
Kidney failure usually doesnt happen overnight. Chronic kidney disease refers to a group of health conditions that affect how well your kidneys function over time. If left untreated, chronic kidney disease can lead to kidney failure.
The biggest causes of kidney failure from chronic kidney disease are:
- Diabetes: Unmanaged diabetes can lead to uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Consistently high blood sugar can damage the bodys organs, including the kidneys.
- High blood pressure: High blood pressure means blood travels through your bodys blood vessels with increased force. Over time, untreated high blood pressure levels can damage the kidneys tissue.
Other causes of chronic kidney disease include:
- Polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary condition where cysts grow inside your kidneys.
- Glomerular diseases, such as glomerulonephritis, which affect how well the kidneys can filter waste.
- Lupus and other autoimmune diseases that can affect multiple body systems.
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What Are The Reasons I Could Require A Kft Test
Diabetes and are two problems that debilitate how well the kidneys perform. On the off chance that you have one of these issues, your primary care physician might be utilizing kidney work tests to monitor your advancement.
Assuming you experience side effects that propose you might have kidney sickness, you could need a kidney work test.
These signs and side effects could include:
Pee with blood in it .
Pee that damages .
Im experiencing difficulty beginning to pee.
What Sorts Of Kft Tests Are There
Your medical services proficiency may arrange at least one sort of kidney profile test. Furthermore, blood tests for kidney capacity might be performed, for example,
BUN is a test that decides how much nitrogen is in your blood. Contingent upon individual protein consumption, age, orientation, size, and race, the assessed GFR predicts filtration rates.
Creatinine, a waste material of muscle tissue breakdown, is estimated in serum creatinine.
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What Happens During A Pee Test For Kidneys
At home, you perform 24-hour pee tests. Your doctor will give you a container to gather pee for a 24hr pee test.
On the day preceding the assessment:
Whenever you first wake up, pee into the latrine like normal.
Pee into the container all through the rest of the day.
At the point when you awaken on day two, pee into the compartment.
Drop your example off at the clinical suppliers office or lab to complete the test.
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What Happens When You Get Kidney Stones But Only Have One Kidney
About 8.8 percent of the population in the U.S. will experience the pain of a kidney stone, according to a 2012 study published in European Urology. That adds up to about half a million people every year, or 1 in 10, and those numbers are rising, the National Kidney Foundation says.
But what happens if you were born with only one kidney or lost one to disease or trauma? How does that affect your diagnosis and treatment if you get a kidney stone?
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World Kidney Day On 8 March Aims To Raise Awareness Of Chronic Kidney Disease And Help Improve Kidney Health Worldwide To Support This Worthy Cause We’ve Put Together A Short Blog On Why Your Kidneys Are So Important And How To Take Care Of Them
World Kidney Day on 8 March aims to raise awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease and help improve kidney health worldwide.
To support this worthy cause, we’ve put together a short blog on why your kidneys are so important and how to take care of them.
1) Your kidneys regulate water
It’s important that your body contains the correct amount of water, and this is one of the key functions of the kidneys. They regulate the amount of water and salts in your body, filtering out any excess water and helping to maintain your body’s chemical balance.
2) Your kidneys remove waste
Yes that’s right, your kidneys make your urine. It may not be pleasant to think about, but your kidneys are vital for removing waste and toxins from your body. They also make sure you keep hold of more useful substances such as glucose and protein.
3) Your kidneys control your blood pressure
4) Kidney damage can be fatal – and there is no cure
Approximately 1 in 10 adults have some form of kidney damage, and every year millions die prematurely of complications related to Chronic Kidney Diseases .
CKD is a gradual loss of kidney function over time, and is most common in older people and women. Unfortunately it’s not easy to detect as most people don’t show any symptoms until they lose up to 90% of their kidney function.
What’s more, there is no cure, although treatment such as dialysis can slow the progression of the disease and prevent more serious conditions from developing.
Keep your kidneys healthy
Will You Need Dialysis
Dialysis performs the function of your kidney by filtering your blood and removing waste and extra fluid. Its only done when youve temporarily or permanently lost most or all of your kidney function.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, dialysis should be started only if your kidneys have lost 85 to 90 percent of their function. Since you usually have nearly normal kidney function when you have one kidney, you wont need dialysis unless your kidney fails.
You should see your healthcare provider at least once a year to evaluate your single kidney. If a problem develops, you should be checked more often.
Two tests are used to evaluate your kidney function:
- The glomerular filtration rate indicates how well your kidneys are filtering blood. Its calculated using the creatinine level in your blood.
- The amount of protein in your urine is measured to determine if the filters in your kidney are damaged and leaky. High levels of protein in your urine is a sign of kidney dysfunction.
Your blood pressure also must be measured.
High blood pressure can be a sign of kidney dysfunction. It can also damage the blood vessels in your kidney, which can make kidney dysfunction worse.
Lifestyle changes and medication can lower your blood pressure and avoid further kidney damage.
200,000 people in the United States have a functioning transplanted kidney.
If your solitary kidney gets injured or sick and stops working, you might be eligible for a transplant.
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What Else Do Kidneys Do
Kidneys are always busy. Besides filtering the blood and balancing fluids every second during the day, the kidneys constantly react to hormones that the brain sends them. Kidneys even make some of their own hormones. For example, the kidneys produce a hormone that tells the body to make red blood cells.
Now you know what the kidneys do and how important they are. Maybe next Valentine’s Day, instead of the same old heart, you can give your parents a special card featuring the kidneys!
Ways To Keep Your Kidneys Healthy
Overview
Your kidneys are fist-sized organs located at the bottom of your rib cage, on both sides of your spine. They perform several functions.
Most importantly, they filter waste products, excess water, and other impurities from your blood. These waste products are stored in your bladder and later expelled through urine.
In addition, your kidneys regulate pH, salt, and potassium levels in your body. They also produce hormones that regulate blood pressure and control the production of red blood cells.
Your kidneys are also responsible for activating a form of vitamin D that helps your body absorb calcium for building bones and regulating muscle function.
Maintaining kidney health is important to your overall health and general well-being. By keeping your kidneys healthy, your body will filter and expel waste properly and produce hormones to help your body function properly.
Here are some tips to help keep your kidneys healthy.
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Chemicals That Control Circulatory Strain
Vitamin D
Red platelets
On the off chance that your primary care physician feels that the kidneys are not working as expected, they might arrange renal capacity testing.
These are straightforward blood and pee tests that can decide whether you have a kidney infection.
Assuming you have extra problems that can hinder your kidneys, for example, hypertension or diabetes, you might require renal capacity tests. They can help specialists in monitoring these issues.