Kidneys

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They are located in the middle of your back, just below your rib cage, on either side of your spine. Kidneys weigh about 0.5 percent of your total body weight. Although the kidneys are small organs by weight, they receive a huge amount (20%) of the blood pumped by the heart.

Anatomy of the Kidneys

The kidney is made up of the following parts, which are easily visible when you cut it in half:

• The renal capsule - A thin ,outer membrane that protects the kidney,
• Cortex - Light colored outer region,
• Medulla - Darker , reddish-brown inner region, and
• The renal pelvis - A flat, funnel shaped cavity that collects the urine into the urethra.

The large blood supply to your kidneys enables them to do the following tasks:

• Stimulate the making of red blood cells,
• Maintain the body’s calcium levels,
• Help regulate blood pressure,
• keep the volume of water in your body constant,
• keep the concentrations of various ions and other important substances constant, and
• Remove wastes from your body such as urea, ammonia, drugs, and toxic substances.

Kidneys receive the blood from the renal artery, process it, return the processed blood to the body through the renal vein and remove the wastes and other unwanted substances in the urine. Urine flows from the kidneys through the urethra to the bladder

Conditions that affect the Kidney

Kidney illnesses mainly affect your renal function. This may lead to accumulation of waste in your body that can lead to more serious conditions. Though one can live with only one kidney, you will have serious health problems if you have less than 25% of your renal function.

Some of the more common kidney diseases include:

• Diabetic Nephropathy - This is damage to the kidney nephrons from unused glucose in the blood.
• Inherited and congenital kidney diseases such as polycystic kidney disease. These are mainly as a result of hereditary factors,
• High blood pressure - It can destroy the small blood vessels in your kidneys. This makes it harder to filter waste from your body as they should.

In order to avoid kidney diseases you should avoid its risk factors. These include and not limited to:

• Avoid smoking as it increases the risk of kidney disease,
• Avoid too much cholesterol,
• Avoid too much sodium as it increases blood pressure,

Miracles for Men also recommend avoiding taking too many pain pills as they can make your kidneys worse. If you have diabetes, you should watch your blood glucose keenly to avoid more kidney damage.

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