Our bodies have both nutrients and oxygen that is required to help us to live, but the body also produces waste. The body has to eliminate some waste in order to keep the body healthy and strong.
The lungs for example, help to get rid of carbon dioxide which is a waste that is removed when we exhale. The skin helps to get rid of waste by sweating.
Eliminating Waste
The urinary system also helps to remove waste and it does this by eliminated harmful and excessive substances out of the blood through the urine. The urinary system and the cardiovascular system work together to make this happen.
Liquid Waste
Urine is a liquid waste that contains substances such as salts, water and other substances that can be harmful to the body.
Function of the Kidneys
The body has two kidneys. The kidneys are located one on each side of the body, against the back and is protected by the rib cage. The function of the kidneys is to filter the blood.
Blood passes through the kidneys and the important nutrients and blood cells that are needed stay in the blood but the harmful substances and extra water or extra salt is filtered and removed from the kidneys. These harmful or excessive substances leave the body through urine.
Bladder
The kidneys make the urine and then the urine travels through tubes called ureters which lead the urine to the bladder. The bladder then helps to store the urine until the urine leaves the body through the urethra.
If your body has too much water, this can be dangerous and even though water is healthy to the body, too much water needs to be removed. The body removes this water though the kidneys, just as it does with waste materials.
Facts About the Urinary System:
- If a person has too much protein in their urine, the kidneys may not be working correctly.
- Too much sugar or glucose found in the urine can be signs of diabetes.
- A person that treats diseases of the urinary system is called a urologist.
- When a person’s kidneys are not filtering the waste, it can make a person very sick.
- People who have little or no kidney function oftentimes go to dialysis. Dialysis is a procedure that helps to clean the patient’s blood when the kidneys are not properly working.
- The bladder is a hollow organ of the body.
- The ureter is a tube that runs from the bladder to the kidneys.
- Eating too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, but the urinary system helps to regulate the levels of sodium and other chemicals that the body needs.
- People can donate one of their kidneys and they can live with just one kidney.
What Did You Learn?
- How many kidneys are in the body? Most people have two kidneys. People can have a kidney removed and still live.
- What is the liquid waste that is eliminated from your body called? This type of waste is called urine.
- What does it mean that the kidney filters the blood? Filtering the blood means that the body keeps some substances and takes other substances out. The kidney filters the blood by removing harmful substances.
- What procedure can someone who does not have kidney function do? People that have little or no kidney function can have dialysis to help cleanse their blood.
- What is the hollow organ that store urine until the urine exits the body? The bladder helps to store the urine until the body gets rid of it.
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