Dr. Avideh Motmaen-Far Osteopath D.O. /Radio Koocheh
In my opinion, kidneys are the most sophisticated and beautifully “engineered” organs of the human body. They release important hormones, maintain homeostatic balance in the body and the excretion of waste products. People with two healthy kidneys have 100 percent of their kidney function. Some people are born with only one kidney but can still lead normal, healthy lives. Every year, thousands of people donate one of their kidneys for transplantation to a family member or a friend.
The urinary system is made of the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, and the urethra. Each plays an important role in helping your body to eliminate waste products in the form of urine. The kidneys are bean-shaped, about 10 cm long and 6.5 cm wide located in the abdomen near the vertebral column. They are supplied with oxygenated blood by the renal artery and drained of deoxygenated blood by the renal vein. Urine is produced as part of the kidneys excretory function and drained by the ureter to the bladder.
In addition to its excretory and homeostatic roles, the kidneys also release two important hormones into the blood
The main functional unit of the kidney is the nephron. Each kidney contains approximately a million nephrons. They filter blood of small molecules and ions such as water, salt, glucose and other solutes including urea. Large molecules such as proteins are not filtered by kidneys. Wastes, such as urea and creatinine, must be removed from the body. Urea and other wastes are made when the body breaks down protein. Creatinine is a waste product of the muscles metabolism. Nephrons maintain also the balance of some solutes such as sodium chloride, potassium and glucose by reabsorption.
In addition to its excretory and homeostatic roles, the kidneys also release two important hormones into the blood; erythropoietin, or EPO, which stimulates the bone marrow to make red blood cells, renin, which regulates blood pressure and calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, which helps maintain calcium for bones and for normal chemical balance in the body.
The most common causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. But other causes such as Alport Syndrome (AS), Nephrotic syndrome, also called nephrosis, Glomerulonephritis Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), commonly referred to as “Hamburger Disease”, kidney stones, Polycystic kidney disease (PKD), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), and Wilms’ Tumor are common causes of chronic Kidney disease. Serious health problems occur when people have less than 25 percent of their kidney function. In most kidney diseases, nephrons lose their filtering capacity, by either injury or poisoning causing usually both kidneys to fail simultaneously.
Disturbance of blood supply of kidneys is the main cause of renal failure. In case of a critical drop of blood supply of kidneys the process of urine filtration becomes impossible and uropoiesis stops. The process of renal filtration (the first stage of uropoiesis) depends entirely on the amount of blood flowing to kidneys. This amount is of course determined by arterial pressure. In most cases, acute renal failure (ARF) is caused by a significant drop of arterial pressure, because it reduces seriously the amount of blood going to kidneys.
Renal causes of renal failure include all pathological conditions which affect parenchyma of kidneys. The most often reasons of kidneys affection are acute glomerulonephrites, interstitial nephritises, renotrophic intoxications, clottage of renal vessels, and kidney infarct.
The most common primary glomerular diseases include membranous nephropathy, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. The first sign of a glomerular disease is often proteinuria. Another common sign is hematuria. Some people may have both proteinuria and hematuria. Glomerular diseases can slowly destroy kidney function. Recent research suggests that there is a strong connection between chronic kidney disease and hearing loss, study author Dr. David Harris, associate dean of Sydney Medical School-Westmead at the University of Sydney, said in a news release from the National Kidney Foundation. The structural and functional similarities between tissues in the inner ear and in the kidney explain this link according to Dr. Harris. Over all, when kidneys fail, the toxins accumulation damage nerves including those in the inner ear.
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