Friday, September 11, 2009

What do our kidneys do? -- My daily learning on Human Body on 2009-09-11

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located near the middle of the back, just below the rib cage, one on each side of the spine. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines.

Every day, a person’s kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about 2 quarts of waste products and extra water.

The wastes and extra water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The bladder stores urine until releasing it through urination.

The kidneys remove wastes and water from the blood to form urine. Urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through the ureters.

Wastes in the blood come from the normal breakdown of active tissues, such as muscles, and from food.

The body uses food for energy and self-repairs.

After the body has taken what it needs from food, wastes are sent to the blood.

If the kidneys did not remove them, these wastes would build up in the blood and damage the body.

For more info, please visit http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/


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