The Kidneys and Bladder
Our kidneys, each about
10 centimeters long, lie in the mid-section (on the two sides of the spine
below the diaphragm) of our body where the other organs like stomach, liver,
pancreas, etc are situated. The bladder, which is a bag-like storage organ, is
situated inside our lower abdominal area. The kidneys are connected to the
bladder by two passageways or tubes (ureters) through which urine passes to the
bladder. The tube by which urine passes out body is called urethra.
The kidneys mainly act
as a waste disposal unit in our body. They help our body to get rid of toxins
(poisons), waste matter and excess nutrients such as water, certain vitamins
and minerals by removing them from the blood. Inside each of the two kidneys,
there are lots of clumps of tiny blood vessels called capillaries, and there
are tiny tubes around the clumps. As blood flows through the capillaries, waste
matter passes into tiny tubes. These waste products then travel from the
kidneys to the bladder where they are stored as urine until we urinate to pass
it out of our body. The kidneys also help to regulate our blood pressure. If we
are fasting or starving, our kidneys can also create the sugar glucose.
If our kidneys become weak, we may have too
many toxins in our blood and also too much or little of certain nutrients in
our blood. We may also have high blood pressure, water retention etc because of
unhealthy kidneys.
Weak kidneys can also
result in the information of kidneys stones. Kidneys stones are formed from the
minerals in the kidneys. These stones can sometimes get stuck in the kidneys or
can move from kidneys into the passageways between the kidneys and the bladder,
and get stuck there. If this happens, we generally can also move all the way
into the bladder and then they are called the bladder stones. Small bladder
stones may sometimes be able to leave our body when urinate.
