Love Your Kidney

Kidneys are bean-shaped organs which are found at the back of your abdominal cavity. Though people are normally born with two functioning kidneys, one on either side of the spine, a person can survive with only one kidney.

Love Your Kidney

Kidneys are bean-shaped organs which are found at the back of your abdominal cavity. Though people are normally born with two functioning kidneys, one on either side of the spine, a person can survive with only one kidney.

The kidney plays an important role as the natural filter in our body systems. In very simple terms, once the blood has entered our acheter viagra kidneys via the renal arteries, the kidneys will remove waste substances (such as urea) in the blood to be directed to the urinary bladder, and reabsorb useful substances (such as water) back into our body to be used. Most of this filtration process takes part in the nephron of the kidneys.

Other than filtering our blood, the kidney also makes sure the pH levels in our bodies are balanced. The kidney regulates the acid-base balance by reabsorbing bicarbonate ions from the urine and excreting hydrogen ions into urine. On top of that, the kidney regulates the osmotic pressure (also known as water pressure) in our bodies via reabsorption of water. Although the kidney cannot directly sense blood, it is important in maintaining blood pressure in our bodies. The kidneys are also involved in hormone secretion; it excretes erythropoietin in response to low oxygen levels in your blood, stimulates bone marrow production in the bone marrow and also secretes the enzyme; renin.

Isn’t it amazing how a small organ (about 13 cm long) plays such an important role to us?

(Source: National Health Service, UK & National Kidney Foundation, NKF)