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Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Kidneys are a filter system Other kidney functions Measuring how your kidneys work Keeping your kidneys healthy Where to get help. Kidneys are a filter system The main job of the kidneys is to remove waste from the blood and return the cleaned blood back to the body. Kidney stones and urinary tract infections can usually be treated successfully.
Unfortunately, the exact causes of some kidney diseases are still unknown, and specific treatments are not yet available for them. Sometimes, chronic kidney disease may progress to kidney failure, requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation. Treating high blood pressure with special medications called angiotensin converting enzyme ACE inhibitors often helps to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease.
A great deal of research is being done to find more effective treatment for all conditions that can cause chronic kidney disease. Kidney failure may be treated with hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis or kidney transplantation. Treatment with hemodialysis the artificial kidney may be performed at a dialysis unit or at home. Hemodialysis treatments are usually performed three times a week.
Peritoneal dialysis is generally done daily at home. A kidney specialist can explain the different approaches and help individual patients make the best treatment choices for themselves and their families.
Kidney transplants have high success rates. The kidney may come from someone who died or from a living donor who may be a relative, friend or possibly a stranger, who donates a kidney to anyone in need of a transplant. Kidney disease usually affects both kidneys. If the kidneys' ability to filter the blood is seriously damaged by disease, wastes and excess fluid may build up in the body.
Although many forms of kidney disease do not produce symptoms until late in the course of the disease, there are six warning signs of kidney disease:. Skip to main content. How Your Kidneys Work. Why Are the Kidneys So Important? 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.
Where are the kidneys and how do they function? They help the body pass waste as urine. They also help filter blood before sending it back to the heart. Nephrons are the most important part of each kidney. They take in blood, metabolize nutrients, and help pass out waste products from filtered blood. Each kidney has about 1 million nephrons. Each has its own internal set of structures. After blood enters a nephron, it goes into the renal corpuscle, also called a Malpighian body.
The renal corpuscle contains two additional structures:. The renal tubules are a series of tubes that begin after the Bowman capsule and end at collecting ducts. The renal cortex is the outer part of the kidney.
It contains the glomerulus and convoluted tubules. The renal cortex is surrounded on its outer edges by the renal capsule, a layer of fatty tissue. Together, the renal cortex and capsule house and protect the inner structures of the kidney.
The renal medulla is the smooth, inner tissue of the kidney. It contains the loop of Henle as well as renal pyramids. Renal pyramids are small structures that contain strings of nephrons and tubules. These tubules transport fluid into the kidney. This fluid then moves away from the nephrons toward the inner structures that collect and transport urine out of the kidney.
This is where filtered fluids exit the nephrons. The renal pelvis is a funnel-shaped space in the innermost part of the kidney. It functions as a pathway for fluid on its way to the bladder. The first part of the renal pelvis contains the calyces. These are small cup-shaped spaces that collect fluid before it moves into the bladder.
This is also where extra fluid and waste become urine. The hilum is a small opening located on the inner edge of the kidney, where it curves inward to create its distinct beanlike shape.
The renal pelvis passes through it, as well as the:. The ureter is a tube of muscle that pushes urine into the bladder, where it collects and exits the body. Because of all of the vital functions the kidneys perform and the toxins they encounter, the kidneys are susceptible to various problems.
Learn more about some of the most common kidney diseases. These functions maintain and optimize the "milieu interieur" internal environment of the body--the fluids in which our cells live.
Life is incompatible with a lack of kidney function though hemodialysis can act as a substitute. 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.
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 liters of fluid and particles enter into the nephron to be filtered. If only one kidney is present, that kidney can adjust to filter as much as two kidneys would normally. In such a situation, the nephrons compensate individually by increasing in size--a process known as hypertrophy--to handle the extra load.
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