Chapter 25 - The Excretory System

1) Homeostasis
-regulation of a stable internal environment, no matter where we are or what we’re doing

2) Osmoregulation
-maintaining the right levels of water and dissolved substances in your body
-how our bodies get rid of the byproducts of metabolizing food
-the body’s greatest balancing act

3) Urea

- Chemical compound of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen produced as waste by

cells that break down protein.

4) Kidneys

- filter out about 180 liters of fluid from your blood, but only 1.5 liters of that ends up
getting peed out

- dedicated to re-absorbing

5) Nephron

- network of tiny filtering structures that kidneys use to do all the work

blood>renal arteries>tiny capillaries>glomerulus

6) Glomerulus

- the starting point for a single nephron

7) Bowman's Capsule

- a cup-like sac

-pressure here is high

-squeezes some of the fluid out of the blood (20%)

squeezed out stuff: "filtrate" = water, urea, sodium, glucose and amino acids

8) Proximal Convoluted Tubule

- a twisted tube; the first of two convoluted tubules in the nephron

- where the osmoregulation takes place

9) Loop of Henle

- a long, hairpin-shaped tubule that passes through the two main layers of the kidney.

-where most of the re-absorption action happens

>extracts most of the water that we need from the filtrate

> pumps out the salts that we want to keep on the way back up to the cortex

> makes the medulla hypertonic, or super salty relative to the filtrate

Renal cortex: outermost layer [glomerulus, bowman's capsule, & both convoluted
tubules]

Renal medulla: center of the kidney

10) Distal Convoluted Tubule

- enters the second of our convoluted tubules

- regulates levels of potassium, sodium, and calcium

- work is mainly done by pumps and hormones

11) Collecting Ducts

- stuff all gets dumped here, then channel it back down to the medulla
12) Ureters, Bladder, & Urethra

urine>kidney>ureters>bladder>urethra (tube)

Exclusive
1) Joyce Ann Mandeg (Pastor at AGC - Alliance Gospel Church)
•Why do some people sell their kidney?
>Poverty and dire need.
•Is it okay to sell your kidney?
>Selling your organ kidney for that matter is ethically wrong
>It’s against the law
>To protect us from exploitation. Because many are taking advantage. There are
syndicates that force or kidnap people to be able to sell their kidneys
>It defies and violates our human integrity and dignity that includes our bodies if we are
giving our kidneys.
>A wrong is always wrong and the wrong cannot be made right by right reasons.
2) Joybie Concepcion Arceo, RN.
•What is the best diet in order to prevent kidney disease?
-Low fat diet and low salt diet.
-Avoid red meat or no red meat at all.
•Is there a high chance of recovery for patients undergoing a dialysis? If yes, what are
the usual treatment/procedures in order to treat kidney failure?
-Yes, but we have to remember this is still a kidney failure so lifetime dialysis is needed.
-No dialysis = incomplete creatinine
no creatinine = high level of toxicity.
-Change lifestyle, eat healthy food, do regular exercise.
•What is the most common disease in the excretory system?
-UTI or urinary tract infection is the most

•Is it safe to sell your own kidney?

-Yes