Disorders of the excretory system

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the previous articles that focused on the excretory system of living beings. Uremia • Malfunctioning of kidneys can lead to accumulation of urea in blood, a condition called uremia, which is highly harmful and may lead to kidney failure. • In such patients, urea can be removed by […]

Hyderabad: This article is in continuation to the previous articles that focused on the excretory system of living beings.

Uremia
• Malfunctioning of kidneys can lead to accumulation of urea in blood, a condition called uremia, which is highly harmful and may lead to kidney failure.
• In such patients, urea can be removed by a process called hemodialysis.
• During the process of haemodialysis, the blood drained from a convenient artery is pumped into a dialysing unit called artificial kidney.

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• Blood drained from a convenient artery is pumped into a dialysing unit after adding an anticoagulant like heparin.

• The unit contains a coiled cellophane tube surrounded by a fluid (dialysing fluid) having the same composition as that of plasma except the nitrogenous wastes.
• The porous cellophane membrance of the tube allows the passage of molecules based on concentration gradient.
• As nitrogenous wastes are absent in the dialysing fluid, these substances freely move out, thereby clearing the blood.
• The cleared blood is pumped back to the body through a vein after adding anti-heparin to it.
• This method is a boon for thousands of uremic patients all over the world.
Renal failures (kidney failure)
• Kidney transplantation is the ultimate method in the correction of acute renal failures (kidney failure).
• A functioning kidney is used in transplantation from a donor, preferably a close relative, to minimise its chances of rejection by the immune system of the host.
• Modern clinical procedures have increased the success rate of such a complicated technique.
Renal calculi
• Stone or insoluble mass of crystallised salts (oxalates, etc.) formed within the kidney.
Glomerulonephritis
• Inflammation of glomeruli of kidney.