This post looks at what makes the kidney, well... the kidney.
If you'd like to know what work the kidneys do, have a look at this post about Kidney Functions.
To get into the kidney's structure...let's have a look back at the urinary system that it forms a part of.
A Super-Brief Overview of the Urinary System
Location, Location
Our kidneys are similar to kidney-beans in shape and colour, they are located above our waist, nearer to our backs than our abdomen, on each side of the spine and they are partially shielded by the two last rib pairs, the eleventh and twelfth. As you can see below because of the space the liver occupies on our right side, it is normal that the right kidney is slightly lower that the left kidney. |
| Courtesy: philschatz.com |
How do the Kidneys Filter Blood?
To understand the way the kidneys filter blood, we first have to understand the basic structure.
At its most simple organizational level, the kidney can be divided into the renal cortex, the renal medulla and renal pelvis as shown in the image below.
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| Courtesy: flickr.com |
The Renal Cortex: The word cortex comes from latin, it means rind. This section is the outer region of the kidney.
The Renal Medulla: This is the inner region of the kidney, as you can see each medulla is triangular with the narrow bit pointing towards the renal pelvis, and the wide part towards the renal cortex.
Together the renal cortex and the renal medulla form the Renal Parenchyma. It is in these regions the harder work of the kidney takes place. The renal parenchyma contains about 1 million microscopic structures called nephrons that function as 1 million little filters for our blood.
The Renal Pelvis: This is actually the upper portion of the ureter (the muscular tube through which the urine flows). As you can see the pelvis, is kind of funnel shaped, and it branches out upwards to the renal medulla. These branches are known as calyces. The renal pelvis narrows downward, continuing as the ureter.
With all this is mind, have a look at the more detailed image of the kidney below.
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| Courtesy: pitfitness.net |
Now lets analyse how all this works...
The kidney filters the blood in the body, in order for it to do that it must have a good blood supply. This blood supply is represented in the image above by the red shadow as the renal artery.
The most impressive artery in our bodies. the aorta supplies the renal artery of each kidney with blood. (Read about the aorta and the heart here)
This blood filled with different substances, from waste to salts, and many other elements enters the kidney and is carried to the renal parenchyma, where 1 million nephrons get to work. Each one of these nephrons contain portions which filters the blood and also help to move the formation of the urine along.
At the end of this process, the filtered blood is passed back to the body through the renal vein., and the urine formed from the cleansing process is drained into the renal pelvis, down to the ureters and into the bladder.
To Summarise...
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| Courtesy: rxlist.com |
If you'd like to know all the functions that the kidneys are in charge of be sure to read Part 1 about all the functions our kidneys are in charge of.
I hope this simplified overview helped to put your own kidneys into a clearer perspective.
Be sure to share the info you now know with someone else.
Knowledge is power.
Blessings to you and yours
#wadadlianstrong
©March 2018
