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Health Information Kidney and Kidney Disorders
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Health Information Kidney and Kidney Disorders
Health and Fitness Information CenterUnderstanding the Kidney and Kidney Disorders, Part 1
Your body is like a factory that contains a number of machines, all of
which need energy in order to work together smoothly. The energy comes from
the food you eat. The food is broken down, during digestion, into
energy-containing substances that pass into your bloodstream.
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There are two kidneys, each about four to five inches long and about six ounces in weight. They lie in the abdomen underneath the liver on the right and the spleen on the left. Each kidney contains about one million tiny filtering units, known as glomeruli, which remove waste material and excess water from the blood to form urine. With all these intricacies of the kidney, it's no wonder the kidney is susceptible to nearly a hundred disorders, diseases, and conditions that can lead to progressive destruction of the kidneys. The deterioration that characterizes kidney disease of diabetes takes place in and around the glomeruli. The damage is usually the result of inflammation caused by abnormal proteins that become trapped in the glomeruli. In a healthy kidney, the blood passes through the glomeruli, and certain chemical, not all of them waste products, are filtered out. |
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Most of the water and certain chemicals such as glucose that are useful to the body are then returned to your blood stream. If more and more of the glomeruli are damaged, the affected kidneys become less and less efficient as a filter and regulator of the chemical content of your blood. Waste products accumulate and cause kidney failure.
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As the nutrients and energy are used up,
chemical waste products are produced in the cells. The waste products are
carried in your bloodstream to the two kidneys. In the kidneys they are
filtered out of the blood and combined with any excess water to form urine.
Thus production and excretion of urine are essential to life.
Kidney ScreenIf detected in the earliest stages, kidney dysfunction can be stopped or reversed with treatment. Assure early detection by doing a Kidney Screening Test that measures the levels of a protein called microalbumin.
