Kidney Function
- Kidney functions include:
- Regulation of blood water content
- This maintains blood water concentration
- Blood volume is maintained, preventing fluctuations in blood pressure
- Removal of waste products from the blood
- This includes the removal of urea, which can become toxic at high levels
- Excess salts are also removed; these can affect blood water concentration
- Regulation of blood water content
- Note that the removal of waste products is known as excretion; a full definition for this term is:
The removal of metabolic waste from the body
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- Be aware that this is not the same as egestion, which is the removal of undigested food waste; this occurs in the digestive system
Role of the kidneys diagram
The kidneys remove the waste products of metabolism from the body, as well as other substances that are present in excess