urinary/renal system

Question 1

Urinary system

Answer 1

The urinary system is involved in waste removal and known as the body’s “filtration and removal plant.” Circulating blood carries wastes from the cells to the kidneys for urinary elimination. Waste products form as a result of the body building and repairing tissues while producing energy for life processes.

Question 2

Function: Maintenance of homeostasis

Answer 2

controls water and blood volume, maintains blood pressure, regulates electrolyte levels; reabsorbs some electrolytes, maintains pH balance, helps maintain acid/base balance, and activates vitamin D (for bone calcification).

Question 3

Function: Manufacture

Answer 3

secretion of renin and erythropoietin.

Question 4

Function: Processing of waste

Answer 4

Filters blood, forms urine (kidneys) and stores urine (bladder).

Question 5

Function: Elimination

Answer 5

Eliminates protein wastes, excess salts, and toxic materials.

Question 6

Structure: Kidneys

Answer 6

two reddish brown, bean-shaped organs in the small of the back, on either side of the vertebral column. They are about the size of a human fist. The right kidney is slightly lower than the left due to the liver. Nephron cells in the kidney are the cells that form urine. Kidneys activate vitamin D and secrete the hormones renin and erythropoietin.

Question 7

Structure: Ureters

Answer 7

narrow tubes that attach to the kidneys and carry the urine from the kidneys down to the urinary bladder for storage.

Question 8

Structure: Bladder

Answer 8

a hollow muscular sac which is normally sterile. When empty, the bladder lies in the pubis whereas when full it may extend well into the abdominal cavity. The ureters and urethra attach to one of the three points of the bladder. The maximum capacity of the human bladder is normally 1,000 mL.

Question 9

Structure: Urethra

Answer 9

the tube that urine passes through to outside of the body. In men, the urethra is longer. In women, the urethra is shorter (due to anatomical differences).

Question 10

Erythropoietin

Answer 10

hormone that is produced by the kidneys which stimulates the red bone marrow to increase the formation of red blood cells.

Question 11

Renin

Answer 11

hormone that plays a role with blood pressure regulation. If the human body’s blood pressure falls too low, cells in the kidneys release renin into the blood stream. The effects of the hormone leads to constricting of the blood vessels and increasing thirst in the brain which encourages a person to increase fluid intake.

Question 12

Renal Arteries

Answer 12

Kidneys receive a generous blood supply from the renal arteries because they branch directly from the abdominal aorta

Question 13

Renal Veins

Answer 13

The renal veins empty directly into the inferior vena cava to return the blood to the heart after filtration of the blood has occurred.