How do our kidneys work?

Think of your kidneys as an extremely sophisticated, waste disposal system, which sorts non-recyclable waste from recyclable waste, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while also cleaning your blood. Much of this waste is produced by the body as it processes the food you eat. Where are your kidneys? Most people are born with two kidneys, each one about the size of an adult fist, are bean-shaped and weigh around 150 grams each. The kidneys are located at both sides of your backbone just under the rib cage or above the small of your back. They are protected from injury by a large padding of fat, your lower ribs and several muscles. What do your kidneys do? Our kidneys are small biological marvels with a fascinating design. Healthy kidneys act like a filter to make sure the right amount of wastes and fluids are removed. Every hour your blood supply circulates through the kidneys about 12 times. Each day your kidneys process around 200 litres of blood, with around 1 to 2 litres of waste leaving the body as urine. Our kidneys make three important hormones, erythropoietin, renin and active vitamin D. Erythropoietin stimulates the production of red blood cells, renin is involved in the control of blood pressure and active vitamin D controls calcium uptake and helps make strong bones. What is the role of your kidneys in keeping you healthy? For organs so small, your kidneys works hard - they have a number of vital roles to play in the daily functions of our body, as they:

act as filters for your body to clean blood of wastes, yet retain essential elements needed by the body they keep the proper balance of salts and acids in the body, and produce hormones and enzymes which help to:

control your blood pressure help to keep your internal water balance make red blood cells and help maintain your blood composition and pH levels maintain strong and healthy bones and help to keep mineral balance

Your kidneys are master chemists of the body, intervene in many processes and balances in the body and control many vital body functions. The major role of the kidneys is to remove waste from the blood and eliminate it in the urine. To remove this waste and extra water, blood enters the kidney through the renal artery; blood is then cleaned in the kidney as it passes through tiny filters called nephrons. The nephrons are the basic working units of the kidneys, controlling the formation of urine. One kidney contains about one million nephrons, and each nephron contains a filtering apparatus called a glomerulus.