Urinary System

Question 1

Kidney functions:

Answer 1

• removal of waste
• water balance
• salt balance
• blood pressure homeostasis
• acid/base balance of blood

Question 2

How are the kidneys held in place

Answer 2

By fat

Question 3

Where are the kidneys

Answer 3

Retroperitoneal (back of the abdomen, behind the peritoneum)

Question 4

Kidneys bear the major responsibility of:

Answer 4

Eliminating nitrogenous wastes, toxins and drugs

Question 5

The kidneys filter gallons of?

Answer 5

Fluid from the bloodstream

Question 6

How does the kidneys regulate blood volume

Answer 6

Maintains proper balance between water and salts, between acids and bases

Question 7

What do the kidneys produce

Answer 7

• enzyme renin to regulate BP
• hormone erythropoietin to stimulate red blood cell production in bone marrow

Question 8

The kidney cells convert:

Answer 8

Vitamin D produced in the skin to its active form, calcitriol

Question 9

How much blood is filtered through the kidneys

Answer 9

One-quarter of the total blood supply every minute

Question 10

What supplies the kidney with blood

Answer 10

The renal artery

Question 11

What is the functional unit of the kidney

Answer 11

Nephron

Question 12

Function of the nephron within the kidneys

Answer 12

• filter that forms urine

Question 13

What is glomerular filtration

Answer 13

• non-selective, passive process
• fluid passes from the blood to the glomerular capsule & part of the renal tube
• filtrate (blood plasma without blood proteins)
• proteins and blood cells are normally too large to pass through the filtration membrane
• normal systemic BP allows filtrate to form
• low BP = low glomerular pressure and filtrate formation stops.

Question 14

What is tubular reabsorption

Answer 14

• reclaims useful substances like water, glucose, amino acids, ions and return to blood
• active transport - uses membrane carriers, requires ATP and is selective
• some passive transport of water via osmosis
• mostly occurs in DCT

Question 15

What is tubular secretion?

Answer 15

• elimination of substances that remain in the blood through peritubular capillary
• additional means for controlling blood pH

Question 16

What are the 3 processes resulting in urine formation?

Answer 16

1. Glomerular formation
2. Tubular reabsorption
3. Tubular secretion

Question 17

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR):

Answer 17

• glomerular hydrostatic pressure: ~55mm Hg - blood pressure
• blood colloid osmotic pressure: ~30mm Hg - proteins in blood
• capsular hydrostatic pressure: ~15mm Hg - tubule resistance
• net outward pressure: 55-30-15 =10 mm Hg

Question 18

What is GFR

Answer 18

GFR depends on the amount of blood flowing through the kidneys and the proportion of the plasma leaving the capillary

Question 19

What can GFR be measured by

Answer 19

Creatinine clearance rate

Question 20

The kidneys filters how much blood plasma

Answer 20

• 150-180 litres through their glomeruli into the tubules
• only about 1.0-1.8 litres of urine is produced - urine and filtrate are quite different

Question 21

The normal yellow colour of urine is due to:

Answer 21

Chrome, a pigment that results from the body’s destruction of haemoglobin - solute urine is pale, straw colour.
• urine can be different colour due to certain foods eaten or the presence of bile or blood

Question 22

Urine is denser than water because:

Answer 22

Of the solutes

Question 23

Substances not normally found in urine

Answer 23

• glucose
• blood proteins
• red blood cells
• haemoglobin
• white blood cells (pus)
• bile

Question 24

The pH of urine is usually

Answer 24

6

Question 25

Kidney problems

Answer 25

• Chronic kidney diseases
• Kidney stones
• Inflammation

Question 26

What are kidney stones disease (urolithiasis)

Answer 26

The form of crystals (renal calculi) from substances in the urine.

Calculi may stay in the kidney or move into the urinary tract, irritating and damaging it. Causing pain and dysfunction

Question 27

Symptoms of Renal Calculi

Answer 27

• pain (resulting from inflammation, stretching and spasms of urinary tract
• blood in urine
• Raised temperature
• nausea and vomiting
• Painful urination
• cloudy urine
• urine changes - smell, more or less than usual
• crystals in urine
• fever and/or chills

Question 28

Types of kidney stones

Answer 28

• crystine stones
• calcium stones
• uric acid
• struvite stones

Question 29

Risk factor of kidney stones

Answer 29

• age
• male gender
• family history
• dehydration
• calcium supplements
• high diet in animal proteins
• oxalate - rich vegetables
• Coca Cola (contains phosphates)
• hyperparathyroidism (increase calcium concentration)
• recurrent urinary tract infections (struvite)
• other diseases or medical conditions
• obesity
• physical in-activity (bed-bound or inactive)

Question 30

Diagnosis of kidney stones

Answer 30

• blood in urine
• pH indicate type of stone
• urinalysis dipstick
• imaging studies

Question 31

Treatment of kidney stones

Answer 31

• high fluid intake for 24 hours to flush stone out
• promote dissolving crystals
• avoid phosphoric acid
• removal of the stones

Question 32

What is renal failure?

Answer 32

• kidneys are unable to filter waste
• the organ is failing to perform its primary function
• leads to disruption in endocrine and metabolic function, fluid, electrolyte and acid-base disturbances

Question 33

What is AKI (acute kidney injury)

Answer 33

• sudden damage to the kidneys that causes them to not work properly. It can range from minor loss of kidney function to complete kidney failure.
• normally a complication of another serious injury
• usually reversible if treated quickly

Question 34

What is CKD (chronic kidney failure)?

Answer 34

• slow, chronic decline of renal functions. >75% of kidney function lost.

Question 35

Symptoms of AKI (acute kidney injury)

Answer 35

• nausea
• vomiting
• confusion
• high BP
• abdominal/back pain
• oedema