Gross Anatomy
These are two bean-shaped organs responsible for filtering blood and making urine.
What are the kidneys?
This is the microscopic, functional unit of the kidney that actually does the work of filtering blood.
What is a nephron?
This is the name of the liquid waste mixture made of water, salt, and urea that is eliminated from the body.
What is urine?
The kidneys help maintain this steady internal balance of water, salt, and pH in the human body.
What is homeostasis?
Commonly called a UTI, this is a painful bacterial infection that can happen anywhere in the urinary system.
What is a Urinary Tract Infection?
This is the hollow, muscular sac that expands to hold urine until you are ready to go to the bathroom.
What is the urinary bladder?
This is the ball of tiny capillaries inside the nephron where blood is first pushed through to be filtered.
What is the glomerulus?
In this step of urine formation, the body takes back useful things like water and nutrients from the tubule and puts them back into the blood.
When you are dehydrated, this hormone (abbreviated ADH) is released to tell your kidneys to hold onto water.
What is Antidiuretic Hormone?
These are hard mineral deposits that crystalize inside the kidneys and can cause severe pain when trying to pass through the ureters.
What are kindey stones?
These are the two seperate tubes that connect each kidney down to the bladder.
What are the ureters?
This cup like structure completely surronds the glomerulus to catch the filtered fluid.
What is Bowman's capsule (or glomerular capsule)?
This is the name of the main nitrogen waste product found in urine, which comes from the breakdown of proteins.
What is urea?
This mineral electrolyte, commonly found in table salt, is carefully managed by the kidneys to control your blood volume.
What is sodium?
This is the medical term for experiencing painful or burning sensations while urinating.
What is dysuria?
This is the single tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.
What is the urethra?
This U shaped part of the nephron tube loops down into the center of the kidney to help save water.
This fluid dynamic,created by the pumping of the heart, is the main driving force that pushes fluid out of the blood during glomerular filtration.
What is blood pressure?
Made by the adrenal glands, this hormone triggers the kidneys to reabsorb sodium and water to boost low blood pressure.
What is aldosterone?
This is the medical term for seeing red blood cells in a urine sample, which can point to an infection or injury.
What is hematuria?
This is the outer layer of the kidney's internal structure, sitting just above the darker renal medulla.
What is the renal cortex?
This is the long tube at the very end of the nephron pathway that gathers finished urine from multiple nephrons.
What is a collecting duct?
Under healthy conditions, these large blood components are way too big to pass through the filter and should never be found in a urine sample.
What are blood cells (or large proteins)?
This is the hormone produced by the kidneys that sends a message to your bone marrow to create more red blood cells.
What is erythropoietin?
This medical treatment utilizes an external machine to filter a patient's blood when their kidneys have stopped working.
What is hemodialysis?