There are two kidneys, each about the size of a fist, located on either side of the spine at the lowest level of the rib cage. Each kidney contains up to a million functioning units called nephrons. A nephron consists of a filtering unit of tiny blood vessels called a glomerulus attached to a tubule. When blood enters the glomerulus, it is filtered and the remaining fluid then passes along the tubule. In the tubule, chemicals and water are either added to or removed from this filtered fluid according to the body's needs, the final product being the urine we excrete.
The kidneys perform their life-sustaining job of filtering and returning to the bloodstream about 200 quarts of fluid every 24 hours. About two quarts are removed from the body in the form of urine, and about 198 quarts are recovered. The urine we excrete has been stored in the bladder for anywhere from 1 to 8 hours.
How Well Do Your Kidneys Work?
The kidneys perform several important jobs including the removal of chemical and mineral impurities from the blood, balancing acid in the blood, and controlling body fluids. These delicate processes take place when blood flows through the kidneys. The kidneys also help to control your body’s production of red blood cells, regulate blood pressure, and help keep bones strong and healthy. Each kidney has about a million tiny nephrons. Each nephron has a group of tiny blood vessels called a glomerulus. The glomerulus is the small structure in charge of filtering and cleaning the blood as it flows through the kidney. The rate at which the glomerulus filters the blood is called the glomerular filtration rate or “GFR”.
The kidneys filter almost 200 quarts of blood every day and make approximately two quarts of urine as the waste product. When the kidneys don't work like they should, products in the blood which are supposed to be removed, like the blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine (Cr) stay in the blood and can be easily measured with a blood test. Other products that are supposed to stay in the blood, like proteins, end up in the urine and can be measured with a urine test.
How is a single kidney different?
The single normal kidney will grow faster and get larger than a normally paired kidney. For this reason, the single kidney is larger and heavier than normal, and it is, therefore, more vulnerable to injury. It is important to be aware of the increased risk for injury with certain heavy contact sports, so that careful decisions may be made regarding participation in various physical activities. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and the Medical Society of Sports Medicine have suggested that people with one kidney avoid sports that involve higher risks of heavy contact or collision. This includes boxing, field hockey, football, ice hockey, Lacrosse, martial arts, rodeo, soccer and wrestling. Anyone with a single kidney who decides to participate in these sports should be extra careful and wear protective padding. He or she should understand that the consequences of losing a single kidney are very serious.
Excerpts taken from: http://www.kidney.org/
The kidney specialist says I do not have to limit myself in any way after 3 months of recovery from having a kidney removed.
ReplyDeleteI specifically asked if I could spar in karate and he said by all means! He said if I were to get so hard as to hurt an internal organ then there are more serious implications of that injury. People just don't get hit as hard as to hurt one's organs. Makes sense to me!