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Ima ge des crip
Urinary system
Manyofthebodyswasteproductsarepassedoutofthebodyinurine.Theurinarysystemismade
upofkidneys,bladder,uretersandtheurethra.
Kidneys
Thehumanbodyhastwokidneys,oneoneithersideofthemiddleback,justundertheribs.Each
kidneycontainsthousandsofsmallfilterscallednephrons.Eachnephronhasameshofcapillaries,
connectingittothebodysbloodsupply.Around180litresofbloodsievethroughthekidneys
everyday.Themainfunctionsofthekidneyinclude:
Regulatingtheamountofwaterandsaltsintheblood
Filteringoutwasteproducts
Makingahormonethathelpstocontrolbloodpressure.
Ureters
Eachkidneyhasatubecalledaureter.Thefilteredwasteproducts(urine)leavethekidneysvia
theuretersandenterthebladder.
Bladder
Thebladderisaholloworganthatsitsinsidethepelvis.Itstorestheurine.Whenacertainamount
ofurineisinsidethebladder,thebladdersignalstheurgetourinate.Urinecontainswaterand
wasteproductslikeureaandammonia.
Urethra
Theurethraisthesmalltubeconnectingthebladdertotheoutsideofthebody.Themaleurethra
isabout20centimetreslong,whilethefemaleurethraisshorter,aboutfourcentimetres.Atthe
urethrasconnectiontothebladderisasmallringofmuscle,orsphincter.Thisstopsurinefrom
leakingout.
Common problems
Someofthemorecommonproblemsoftheurinarysysteminclude:
Bladder infections-(cystitis)usuallycausedbybacteria.
Enlarged prostate-inmen,thiscanmakeitdifficulttoemptythebladder.
Incontinence-whenurineleaksoutoftheurethra.
Kidney infections-whenabladderinfectionbacksuptheureters.
Kidney stones-causedbyinfectionandhighbloodlevelsofcalcium.
Things to remember
Kidneysfilterandregulatetheblood.
Mostwasteproductsareremovedfromthebodybytheurinarysystem.
Wasteproductsarepassedinurine.
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