RENAL (REE-nuhl)
Of
or in the region of the kidneys
Common clue: Kidney-related; Of
the kidneys; Kind of artery; Nephritic; _____ calculus (kidney
stone)
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things you didn't know about kidney stones and how to prevent them
Video: Kidney
Transplant Breakthrough
The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. Part of the urinary system, the kidneys filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them, along with water, as urine. The medical field that studies the kidneys and diseases affecting the kidney is called nephrology.
Kidneys
viewed from behind with spine removed.
In humans the kidneys are two organs located in the posterior part of the abdomen. There is one on each side of the spine just below the liver and spleen. Superior to each kidney is an adrenal gland (also called the suprarenal gland).
Renal functions include the excretion of waste material from the bloodstream, secretion of hormones - particularly erythropoietin and renin and maintaining serum electrolyte, acid-base levels and osmolality.
Generally, one can live fine with just one kidney. If both kidneys do not function properly, dialysis is performed, where the blood is filtered outside of the body.
Kidney transplants are now also quite common. The first successful such transplant was announced on March 4, 1954 at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. The surgery was performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray, who in 1990 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Kidney transplants can be cadaveric (from someone who has died) or from a living donor (usually a family member). There are several advantages to a kidney transplant from a living donor, including that it is generally a better match, the donor can be thoroughly tested before transplantion and that the kidney tends to have a longer life span
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kidney".
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