The urinary system removes Waste products by filtering and cleansing the blood as it passes through the kidneys.
The Urinary System regulates the volume, acidity, salinity, concentration, and chemical composition of blood, lymph, and other body fluids.
These components together carry out the function of the urinary system of regulating the volume and composition of body fluids, removing waste products from the blood, and expelling the waste and excess water from the body in the form of urine.
Components of Urinary System
The human urinary system consists of
- A pair of kidneys
- A pair of ureters
- Urinary bladder
- Urethra
A Pair of Kidneys:
- Dark red, bean shape, 10 cm long, 6 cm wide.
- The right kidney is slightly lower in position due to the presence of the liver.
- The renal artery supplies oxygenated blood to the kidneys.
- The renal veins take away deoxygenated blood from the kidneys.
A Pair of Ureters:
- Ureters are tube-like structures which arise from the notch, i.e. the hilum of each kidney.
- The ureters connect behind with the urinary bladder.
- The ureters carry the urine produced to the urinary bladder.
Urinary Bladder:
- Muscular sac-like structure.
- It stores urine temporarily.
Urethra:
- Short muscular tube which expels urine out of the body.
- It is long in males and very short in females.
- The opening is guarded by sphincters which open at the time of urination.
Points to Remember about Urinary System
- The kidneys sit at the back of the abdominal wall and at the start of the urinary system.
- Nephrons, tiny structures in the renal pyramids, filter gallons of blood each day.
- The kidneys reabsorb vital substances, remove unwanted ones, and return the filtered blood back to the body.
- As if they weren’t busy enough, the kidneys also create urine to remove all the waste.
- All the blood in the body moves in and out of the kidneys hundreds of times each day—that’s about 200 quarts of liquid to be filtered every 24 hours.
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