The Excretory System

Definition
The removal of poisonous waste produced by the body.

•All the poisonous UREA in the blood is removed by the

kidneys. (Urea was made in the liver from excess
proteins we can't use)
•Excess WATER in the blood is removed - this is called
OSMOREGULATION.
•Excess SALT in the blood is also removed.
•The kidneys remove wastes from the blood by
ULTRAFILTRATION. These wastes in the blood are
 squeezed out of the renal artery into the kidneys
tubules to make urine.

Kidney Dialysis
This is an artificial method of blood filtration used in cases
of kidney failure.
What does it do?
The dialysis machine needs to remove urea from the
blood and regulated the amount of water and salt.
How does it do this?
Blood from the patients artery passes into the machine.
Inside the machine are membranes bathed in dialysis
fluid. Urea will pass out of the blood by diffusion and into
the fluid, allowing the "clean" filtered blood to pass back
into the patient's vein.
Precautions
It is important that the machine is sterile to prevent
infection and blood kept at the same pressure as the
body.
Important Points
•Protein molecules and blood cells do not pass out of
the blood because they are too big to go through the
membrane.
•Glucose molecules are small enough to pass out put
don't because the concentration of glucose inside the
blood and dialysis fluid is kept the same.
•People who use a dialysis machine need to eat a
restricted diet because urea is made from excess
proteins. Having less urea in the blood means less
time needed for dialysis.
•The tubing is coiled to increase the surface area
allowing time for the diffusion to occur.
Advantages of Dialysis
Keeps you alive
Improves quality of life
No chance of rejection
Disadvantages of Dialysis
Expensive
Regular hospitail visits
Risk of infections from needles
Advantages of Kidney transplants
Health regained
Freedom of movement
No special diet required
Blood is continually cleaned
Disadvantages of Transplant
Availability and match of kidney
Anti-rejection drugs needed