Talk:Kidney

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[edit] Images

Some histological pictures should be added here

What is the medial aspect? -- HJH

This is wrong: "kidneys weigh about 150 grams. Kidneys are 0.5% of a person's body mass". This would lead to a person weighing 15 kg (33 lbs), or 30 kg (66 lbs) if the first statement refers to individual kidneys and the second to their combined mass. I'd suggest to either strike this or replace it with a verifiable (preferably footnoted) figure (which I do not have available, or I'd do it myself). - André

From Kidneys:

Kidneys are one of the most important organs of the body. A pair of kidneys lie in the abdominal region. The kidneys are bean-shaped structures. They consist of nephrons, individual units. Each nephron consists of Bowman's capsule, which includes glomerulus, comprising of afferent and efferent arterioles. this is followed by proximal convoluted tubule, Henle's loop and distal convoluted tubule, leading to the ureter. the uerter leads into urinary bladder where the urine is collected and stored temporarily.

With the processes like, filtration, absoprtion and secretion, taking place at the glomerulus, henle's loop and distal convoluted tubule respectively, the kidneys produces urine which needs to be excreted as it is toxic.

Just a note in the Plasma Volume section. "A lack of water causes the posterior pituitary gland to secrete antidiuretic hormone, which results in water reabsorption and an increase in urine concentration."

It is an increase in the osmolarity of the blood, detected in the hypothalmus, which causes the the release of ADH, not simply a lack of water (assuming it refers to plamsa volume?). A large hemorrhage would not cause ADH to be released.

[edit] Who has kidneys?

Does someone know which groups of animals have kidneys, do all vertebrates have some? Of course I'm not only asking for myself, this should be added to the text. :o)

Aragorn2 17:30, 20 Sep 2003 (UTC)

[edit] To do

  1. write more about kidney dialysis machines, they are very relevant to this type of article. I did not happen to see them being written about anywhere else, so i think it is appropriate for them to go here.
  2. someone to write up more on the structure and function of each part of the nephron
    • IMO, this belongs at Nephron, where, incidentally, most of this information can already be found. --David Iberri | Talk 23:29, Nov 4, 2004 (UTC)
  3. more detail on anatomy of the kidney
  4. physiology of the kidneys (e.g. control of renal function, control of pH and so on) - can be folded into structure, I suppose
  5. include information on non-mamalian kidneys
  6. animal kidneys as food. --84.58.42.75 06:49, 17 July 2005 (UTC)
  7. much better diagram - one with readable labels --GrimRC 86.4.53.107 14:57, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
  8. Kidney development, more than likely a separate article.
    • Done, but more details are needed. I agree that a separate article is necessary. --David Iberri (talk) 18:38, 6 December 2006 (UTC)
      • There is Kidney development, but it's pretty rough. --Arcadian 05:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
        • Blast, I wish I'd looked for that first. :-) I'm trying to address WP's lack of embryo coverage, so I'll see what I can do with the article in the next couple days. Thanks for pointing it out. --David Iberri (talk) 05:39, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

-- Serephine ♠ talk - 13:17, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Please feel free to edit this list as necessary. --Alex.tan 09:22, 22 Sep 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Questionable References

  1. Just wanted to say that I Removed a line about having multiple kidneys because the source was extremely questionable. (The magazine cited was a russian tabloid that also talked about UFOs, celebrity citings, cyclops babies, etc...I forgot to put an edit summary. (cur) (last) 08:56, 16 March 2007 Vihsadas (Talk | contribs)


i have a Q... why it is prefer the left kidney than the right one for the donation??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.158.158.206 (talk) 07:18, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

I don't have a reference for this except an anatomy professor, but I've heard it's because the left renal vein is longer than the right. --David Iberri (talk) 12:39, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] EDIT THIS

Do edit this article soon!!!!!!!!!!!! Soilguy6 19:45, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

"In soviet block satellite states, hemodialysis was introduced primarily because of the need to aviod international scandal and provide some means of survival for political dissenters, who lost kidneys due to secret police beatings."

Is there a source for this? --JWSchmidt 13:30, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Edits to come

I will edit and expand on some of this stuff...it lacks on the actual function of hte kidney. -ari

You mean functionS? JFW | T@lk 15:06, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
You're incorrect. There is a good paragraph on "function". What do you mean? JFW | T@lk 15:07, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
JFW, don't feed the troll. Alex.tan 23:28, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Kidneys are edible...

This article lacks any discourse on the kidney as a foodstuff, e.g. in steak and kidney pie. Can anyone oblige? 217.155.20.163 00:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

You, perhaps? JFW | T@lk 13:31, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
  1. Cannibalism
  2. Steak and kidney pie isnt made from human--203.53.201.11 01:38, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
Indeed well prepared kidneys (I think from cow or pig) are good food. Neccessary step is to cook them for hour or so to get the taste of urine disappear - there was some specific cooking term for this process. There is finnish traditional food "Karjalan Paisti" - roughly "Karelian steak" wich is meat soup with liver, kidney, heart, and normal meat.
Well it took almost a year but I came along and added a little section on Kidneys as food. -- 125.238.58.85 08:15, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What about the number of kidneys

I was born with one [left one, not horseshoe] and no problems so far. Can people have more than two? It doesn't seem like the number of brains or hearts varies much. Or bladders for that matter. Why kidneys?

Well I've never heard of more than 2 kidneys in humans, but if you look at all the people donating kidneys you'll see that the remaining kidney can function quite well by itself - as I'm sure you're aware. The other one will compensate to a large degree. I think you'll find that this is the reason why people can vary in their number of kidneys - 2 kidneys aren't essential, 1 kidney is essential, 1 heart is essential, 1 brain is essential -- Serephine ♠ talk - 13:22, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

More than two kidneys can occur in humans I believe...just let me look through pubmed for a source. However, I recently removed a line that stated that same fact because the source that was given was a russian tabloid. If I find the source, I'll add a line about it. Vihsadas 17:30, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Funny you should bring this up. I was actually born with four kidneys. I have 2 regular sized kidneys and I have 2 smaller kidneys behind them.--Supersword (talk) 22:07, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Damage, protection

Surprised to see no mention of kidney protection from movement (motorcycling) or damage in fights/sport. --Snori 19:16, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I think I'll add a little note about the kidneys being prominent targets in martial arts. --GenkiNeko 18:19, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
... on second thought, I can't see where to insert such a note. Hmm. It -is- a significant aspect of the kidney (the term "kidney punch" is one I'm sure we've all heard), but I'm not sure how to best note it within the present structure. --GenkiNeko 18:22, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

We know that one kidney in us is ok but what can happen from having a damaged kidney in the body? Infection? Lots and lots of pain?

Adding a line about the idiomatic expression 'kidney punch' would be fine, but since the kidneys are retro-peritoneal organs, they are very heavily encased in back flesh and fat. They are located high up and the top is protected by one rib. All of these factors make kidneys very, very hard to traumatize by blunt force. I would imagine that the idiomatic expression 'kidney shot' is more just an expression that doesn't have much physiological merit. -- Vihsadas 17:32, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

If blood from the heart did not make such a short trip to the kidneys it wouldn't be a weak spot. If a kidney ruptures it's really bad. Say someone had a few rerouted arteries so a damaged kidney would not be an immediate threat to the poor guy's life. Would his urinary system still work fine with the lower blood flow?

_____ What you say is true, the blood does make a short trip to the kidneys. However, the blood makes a very short trip to the aorta, and the lungs as well. Would they be weak spots as well? :) Kidney rupture is infact a serious condition, however, the likeliness of this happening due to blunt force trauma by punch is not high. In other forms of trauma (car accident, puncture wound, etc.) I would imagine that this would be much more common. Blood flow to the kidney directly affects the filtering capabilities. If blood flow is reduced, GFR will be reduced, and therefore overall kidney function would be reduced. However, if the scenario you describe only happens to one kidney it would not be serious at all. There is an IMMENSE amount of redundancy in the volume of liquid the kidneys filter. (150L/day!, that's like 15 times your TOTAL blood volume!) So, rather large reductions in GFR have no real effect on the plasma cleaning capabilities of the kidneys.

Vihsadas 06:23, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gastronomy

I agree with one of the previous comments : this excellent article needs a complement about kidneys in gastronomy. Lamb or veal kidneys are commonly used in Europe and probably other parts of the world, as well as pig; of couse, kidneys are also eaten in poultry or rabbit. I am not an expert myself, maybe refer to the French Wikipedia, there must be something about "rognons" (we do not say "reins" in French when we eat them)

[edit] Weight

In a normal human adult, each kidney is about 10 cm long, 5.5 cm in width and about 3 cm thick, weighing 150 grams [3]. Kidneys weigh about 0.5% of a person's total body weight.

If they are 0.5% of total body weight, a normal human adult must weigh 30kg, which must be under half the actual normal weight. Richard001 22:11, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

Recheck your math. Half of one percent (0.5%) of normal body weight (70 kg) is 0.35 kg or 350 g. --David Iberri (talk) 00:01, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Yes, I didn't pay close enough attention to the wording, it makes perfect sense with the plural. All the same I'll reword it just so make it clear. Richard001 02:03, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Sounds like a good idea. Cheers, David Iberri (talk) 02:17, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External Links

User: Beetstra has removed my external link as he has stated it does not follow Wikipedia guidelines. Wikipedia guidelines state that: "Wikipedia articles can include links to Web pages outside Wikipedia. Such pages could contain further research that is accurate and on-topic; information that could not be added to the article for reasons such as copyright or amount of detail (such as professional athlete statistics, movie or television credits, interview transcripts, or online textbooks); or other meaningful, relevant content that is not suitable for inclusion in an article (such as reviews and interviews)".

I believe that information found at the UNC Kidney Center on kidney disease is beneficial to Wiki readers. Please feel free to visit and see for yourself: http://unckidneycenter.org. I would appreciate any feedback.

--Unckc 21:53, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

  • IMO, the site shouldn't be linked to because it is essentially a UNC advert; also, it doesn't provide any information about kidney disease that shouldn't be included in Wikipedia. --David Iberri (talk) 23:43, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
  • I agree with keeping the link off the page. Every University med center has a kidney clinic. If we are going to have external links, make them to places like the National Kidney Foundation or American Society of Nephrology. Just the humble opinion of a future nephrologist. —Gaff ταλκ 21:10, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Merging Renal plasma threshold?

I do not think that the Renal plasma threshold article should be merged here. I think it would be better merged to Renal physiology. —Gaff ταλκ 21:13, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] What happens if my kidneys fail completely?

What happens if my kidneys fail completely?

Complete and irreversible kidney failure is sometimes called end-stage renal disease, or ESRD. If your kidneys stop working completely, your body fills with extra water and waste products. This condition is called uremia. Your hands or feet may swell. You will feel tired and weak because your body needs clean blood to function properly.

Untreated uremia may lead to seizures or coma and will ultimately result in death. If your kidneys stop working completely, you will need to undergo dialysis or kidney transplantation.

If your kidneys fail completely, you will have end stage renal disease, and will require hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis or a renal transplant, which are all forms of renal replacement therapy. Remember to sign in, and if the articles don't answer your question, research and edit them yourself! FelixFelix talk 14:02, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dialysis

The two major forms of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In hemodialysis, your blood is sent through a filter that removes waste products. The clean blood is returned to your body. Hemodialysis is usually performed at a dialysis center three times per week for 3 to 4 hours. Illustration of a man being treated with hemodialysis. [d]

[edit] Hemodialysis

In peritoneal dialysis, a fluid is put into your abdomen. This fluid captures the waste products from your blood. After a few hours, the fluid containing your body’s wastes is drained away. Then, a fresh bag of fluid is dripped into the abdomen. Patients can perform peritoneal dialysis themselves. Patients using continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) change fluid four times a day. Another form of peritoneal dialysis, called continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis (CCPD), can be performed at night with a machine that drains and refills the abdomen automatically. Illustration of a person being treated with peritoneal dialysis. [d] Peritoneal dialysis Transplantation Illustration of a transplanted kidney. [d]

[edit] Kidney transplantation

A donated kidney may come from an anonymous donor who has recently died or from a living person, usually a relative. The kidney that you receive must be a good match for your body. The more the new kidney is like you, the less likely your immune system is to reject it. Your immune system protects you from disease by attacking anything that is not recognized as a normal part of your body. So your immune system will attack a kidney that appears too “foreign.” You will take special drugs to help trick your immune system so it does not reject the transplanted kidney.

[edit] which organs are kidneys attached to?

can someone bloody answer that!!! im am soo friggen pissed

Cool down, bud. The kidneys sit beneath the adrenal glands. --David Iberri (talk) 12:41, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Secretion/reabsorption ("Acid-base balance" section)

Since those words are completely confusing to laymen, and sound like the opposite of what they actually mean in renal function, I took the liberty of adding the necessary words "into the blood" when reabsorption is mentioned. I also changed "secretion" to "excretion into the urine." If "excretion" must be changed back to "secretion," please retain my added "into the urine" each time, so readers will know what it actually means. (Normally, when a reader reads the word "secrete," they believe it to mean secrete into the bloodstream or body; and normally when they read the word "reabsorb," they believe it to mean "remove from the bloodstream or tissues.") Softlavender (talk) 04:22, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I hadn't considered that, but good point. I won't change it, but the term should be "secreted", not "excreted". I'm not moved enough to change it, but if someone does, I agree that the "secreted into the urine" is a reasonable substitution. --David Iberri (talk) 12:44, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Stronger kidneys

Any one know anything you can eat / drink to make your kidneys stronger or function better? Besides water@! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.202.88.27 (talk) 23:22, 29 February 2008 (UTC)