B16 Water balance and kidney (triple) Flashcards
Give 3 ways in which water is lost from the body
From the lungs during breathing
From the skin in sweat
In the urine
Name 3 chemicals found in sweat
Water
Ions
Urea
Can the body control the volume of water and urea lost in sweat or breathing?
No
How are excess water, ions and urea removed from the body?
By the kidneys
Removed in urine
What happens to excess amino acids in our diet?
Sent to the liver
Deaminates the amino acids to form ammonia
Ammonia is toxic and is immediately converted into urea
Urea is transported to kidneys in the bloodstream
How are ions lost from the body?
Urine
Sweating
Outline how do the kidneys produce urine
Filtering the blood
Removes all small molecules from the blood
Reabsorption of useful substances eg glucose, some ions and water
Remaining urea, ions and water is released as urine
What does ADH stand for?
Anti-diuretic hormone
Which gland releases ADH?
Pituitary gland
How does ADH affect the reabsorption of water in the kidneys?
When blood contains too little water
More ADH is released from the pituitary gland
ADH travels in the blood stream to the kidney
ADH increases the permeability of the kidney tubules to water
More water reabsorbed into the blood
Smaller volume of concentrated urine produced
Why is kidney failure dangerous?
Unable to filter blood correctly
Build up of toxic molecules (eg urea) in the body
Uncontrolled ion and water balance and cells become damaged as a result of osmosis
What are the 2 main ways of treating kidney failure?
Dialysis
Transplant
What is kidney dialysis?
Blood is diverted into the dialysis machine
Dialysis fluid contains the same concentration of glucose and ions as healthy blood
Only excess waste molecules are lost from the blood and glucose and ions remain
