Kidney Physiology
The nephron
What is the functional unit of the kidney?
Some say you need 2 of these bean-shaped organs to survive, however, 1 is enough.
What is a kidney?
The kidneys are part of this major body system that includes the bladder and ureters.
What is the urinary system?
This part of the kidney helps keep the urine concentrated
The Loop of Henle
Many people believe that these mineral deposits will always feel painful. But some can pass painlessly through the urinary tract.
What are kidney stones?
Urine formation is an automatic process that doesn’t require signals from this organ, even though most bodily functions do.
What is the brain?
How many nephrons does the average adult kidney contain? (1, 1000, 100,000, 1,000,000)
1 000 000 (roughly)
This blood-filtering treatment is mistakenly thought of as the only way to manage kidney disease, but is only needed when kidneys fail.
What is dialysis?
This kidney is typically positioned slightly lower in the body due to the presence of the liver.
What is the right kidney?
This initial portion of the nephron reabsorbing most of the glomerular filtrate (sodium, water, etc) back into the blood
Proximal convoluted tubule
If this everyday waste-removal process seems normal, your kidneys must be healthy.
What is urination?
This animal’s kidneys are so efficient at conserving water that they allow it to survive with almost no drinking water for months in the desert.
What is a camel?
When you are dehydrated, this hormone inserts aquaporins into collecting ducts to make the collecting ducts more permeable to water.
Antidiuretic hormone (ADH)
Having a family history of this condition guarantees you will have it too.
What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
However, healthy habits can reduce your risk.
Kidneys help remove this toxic nitrogen-containing waste that comes from breaking down proteins.
What is urea?