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Asked by 322bera39 to Colin, John, Kevin, Shikha, Triona on 10 Nov 2014.
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Kevin Motherway answered on 10 Nov 2014:
The Kidneys: they take excess organic molecules like glucose and urea from your blood. The basically ensure that the concentration of waste products of your body metabolising food is kept low and that the level of water in your body is correct (and a dialysis machine does this if your kidneys have failed). If your drink a lot of water your wee is clear with all the waste products excreted watered down ; if you’re dehydrated you’ll produce very little wee and it’ll be dark amber ‘cos the concentration of waste products is high or not watered down. There’s constant stream of urine produced in the kidneys and it travels down to your bladder via a narrow tube called the Ureter. Once you get the sensation of a full bladder you get the feeling you’ve got to Go. Go. Go. When you wee you’re relaxing a muscle or valve on the outlet pipe from your bladder called the Urethra and you’re allowing the urine to flow out to empty the bladder: aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thankfully you have 2 so if something goes wrong you have a spare or you can even provide a live donation to a loved one.
It all works well until you get something like a Kidney stone. Kidney stones or (renal calculi in doctor speak) is usually a mineral called Calcium Oxalate and it forms in the Kidney and then tries to get down the Ureter. In Geology we talk about “crystal habit” or shape than different minerals have. The habit of Calcium Oxalate is a needle: so a kidney stone looks like a ball of needles under a microscope. I had a 8mm Kidney stone about 8 years ago and you can imagine the agony as a ball of needles moves slowly down your Ureter. It should then pop into you bladder and continue it agonising journey down the urethra. Thankfully I had surgery to remove it so I only got to experience half the journey of my calcium oxalate stone. In men the Urethra is much longer than for women whose plumbing is much closer to the bladder, so its far more painful and protracted for men and is apparently the closest men will ever get to experiencing child birth!
If you’re a guy your probably really cringing right now! Final message be sure to carry an organ donor card (or app on your phone) a few of my good friends have a genetic disorder that ruined their Kidneys in late teens and getting a transplant changed their lives. If by some tragedy you leave this world before your time make sure a bit of you can stay on working to make somebody elses life better.
CARRY A CARD!
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Shikha Sharma answered on 20 Nov 2014:
Hi 322bera39,
The urinary system is responsible for filtering wastes from the blood and both forming and secreting urine. These functions help to maintain the composition and volume of body fluids
Its Major Parts
1. Kidneys- the kidneys are, bean shaped organs about the size of a fist and weigh about 5 ounces. They are located in the upper right and left back part of the abdominal cavity. Each kidney contains about 1,200,000 microscopic filters called nephrons. The main function or the kidneys are to maintain the water balance and to eliminate waste materials from the blood.
2. Ureters – these are two long muscular tubes. They are about 12 inches long with a diameter 2 to 3 millimeters. The ureters connect pelvis of each kidney to urinary bladder. They carry urine from each kidney to the urinary bladder.
3. The Urinary Bladder – It is a muscular sac that holds urine. It is located in front the pelvis and behind the pubis. As the bladder fills walls stretch and send signal to brain the desire to urinate.
4. The Urethra- the urethra is a muscular tube which carries urine from the bladder to the outside part of the body. When one is about to urinate, a value in the urethra relaxes to allow the urine to flow out.
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