Most people are misled by the common belief that the urinary system’s only role is to produce urine.
What we eat are broken down and absorbed by the cells in the body. These substances are filtered and regulated by the urinary system.
Urinary System consists of kidneys, ureter, urinary bladder, and urethra.
Most people are misled by the common belief that the urinary system’s only role is to produce urine. The urinary system is not only responsible for urine formation. It also performs other functions that are very important to our body, such as follows:
1. Kidneys Excrete Wastes
The kidneys eliminate nitrogenous wastes, toxins, excess water, excess drugs and other substances that are not needed by the body by filtering tremendous volume of blood every day. The kidneys have millions of tiny structures called nephrons that enable them to do the filtration.
2. Kidneys Help Regulate Blood Pressure
When the blood pressure drops for any reason, special cells in the kidney detect the change and release renin into the blood stream.
Renin is a hormone that converts another hormones produced by the liver so to regulate blood pressure.
What is blood pressure? – When your heart beats, it squeezes and pushes blood through your arteries to the rest of your body. The strength of this pushing is your blood pressure. If your blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on your arteries and your heart that may lead to heart attacks and stokes.
3. Kidneys Maintain Red Blood Cell (erythrocyte) Levels
The production of red cells involves the coordinate interaction of two organ systems in the body. The first is the bone marrow which produces red cells. The second are the kidneys which produce the hormone erythropoietin, which stimulates the production of red blood cell in the bone marrow.
Any irregularities prompts the kidneys to release erythropoietin which then travels to the bone marrow via the blood circulation where it activates new red blood production so red blood cell levels remain constant.
4. Kidneys Help In The Strong Development of Bones and Teeth
Hand in hand with the skin and liver, vitamin D prohormone travels through the bloodstream to the kidneys where it is turned into its active form known as Calcitriol. It is released back into the bloodstream to regulate the uses and absorption of calcium and phosphorus.
Calcitriol is the activated vitamin D hormone which helps transport calcium across the intestine and into the bloodstream. It greatly increases the absorption of calcium from the diet and therefore enormously helps in the strong development of bones and teeth.
5. Kidneys Help Maintain Blood Volume and Concentration
The concentration of our urine is controlled by a hormone called ADH. ADH is produced by the pituitary gland that is situated just below the brain. The pituitary gland monitors the concentration of the blood plasma. It releases ADH into the bloodstream which travels in the blood to the kidneys.
The more concentrated the plasma, the more ADH is release into the blood. When the ADH reaches the kidneys, it causes them to reabsorb more water. This keeps more water in the body and produces more concentrated urine.
But when the plasma is more dilute, less ADH is release into the bloodstream. This allows more water to leave the kidneys, producing a more dilute urine.
Do you wonder what happens to those people selling off their kidneys? They are selling and take the money to live another day at the expense of their health, how ironic.