Archive for the ‘Urinary System’ Category
Kidney Stones
Normally, waste products from the body pass out ill urine, which is produced
in the kidneys. If the urine becomes saturated with waste chemicals, these can crystallize and form stone-like deposits in the kidneys. Kidney stones come in varying sizes: small ones may travel down the urinary tract and simply pass out in the urine; larger stones tend to stay within the kidney but can move into the ureter, where they can lodge and cause severe pain.
Half of all people affected by kidney stones will develop further stones within seven years. Kidney stones occur more frequently in young to middle-aged men. People living in a hot climate have a higher chance of developing kidney stones if they don’t drink enough fluid to replace that lost through sweating. Some individuals may inherit a predisposition towards the condition. Read the rest of this entry »
The Urinary Organs
WHAT IS URINE?
Urine is 95 per cent water and 5 per cent uric acid, urea, salt
s (such as sodium, potassium and chloride) and creatinine. The nephron is part of the filtration unit through which the blood passes in the kidneys. Through this filtration system useful substances are reabsorbed into the bloodstream, and waste substances become urine, which is eventually passed from the kidneys by the ureter.
The urinary system is a sophisticated filtration unit which maintains fluid and chemical balance within the body. Many chemical reactions occurring in cells all over the body produce unwanted by-products and the kidneys filter these from the blood and excrete them in the form of urine.
