What do kidneys filter

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease. High blood pressure also known as hypertension is another common cause of kidney disease and other complications such as heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood against your artery walls increases.

When high blood pressure is controlled, the risk of complications such as chronic kidney disease is decreased. Glomerulonephritis is a disease that causes inflammation of the kidney's tiny filtering units called the glomeruli.

Glomerulonephritis may happen suddenly, for example, after a strep throat, and the individual may get well again. However, the disease may develop slowly over several years and it may cause progressive loss of kidney function. Polycystic kidney disease is the most common inherited kidney disease. It is characterized by the formation of kidney cysts that enlarge over time and may cause serious kidney damage and even kidney failure.

Other inherited diseases that affect the kidneys include Alport's Syndrome,primary hyperoxaluria and cystinuria. Kidney stones are very common, and when they pass, they may cause severe pain in your back and side. There are many possible causes of kidney stones, including an inherited disorder that causes too much calcium to be absorbed from foods and urinary tract infections or obstructions.

Sometimes, medications and diet can help to prevent recurrent stone formation. In cases where stones are too large to pass, treatments may be done to remove the stones or break them down into small pieces that can pass out of the body. These infections most often affect the bladder, but they sometimes spread to the kidneys, and they may cause fever and pain in your back.

Congenital diseases may also affect the kidneys. These usually involve some problem that occurs in the urinary tract when a baby is developing in its mother's womb. One of the most common occurs when a valve-like mechanism between the bladder and ureter urine tube fails to work properly and allows urine to back up reflux to the kidneys, causing infections and possible kidney damage. Drugs and toxins can also cause kidney problems. Using large numbers of over-the-counter pain relievers for a long time may be harmful to the kidneys.

Your bladder is a hollow organ that stores urine from the kidneys. Bladder cancer affects twice as many men as women. Bladder prolapse is when the bladder bulges into the vagina.

Cystitis is the most common urinary tract infection in women. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional.

The information and materials contained on this website are not intended to constitute a comprehensive guide concerning all aspects of the therapy, product or treatment described on the website. All users are urged to always seek advice from a registered health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their medical questions and to ascertain whether the particular therapy, service, product or treatment described on the website is suitable in their circumstances.

The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Skip to main content. Kidney and bladder. Home Kidney and bladder. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. They are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine. Healthy kidneys filter about a half cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine.

The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. Your bladder stores urine.

Your kidneys, ureters, and bladder are part of your urinary tract. Your kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Your kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals—such as sodium , calcium , phosphorus , and potassium —in your blood.

Watch a video about what the kidneys do. Each of your kidneys is made up of about a million filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron includes a filter, called the glomerulus , and a tubule. The nephrons work through a two-step process: the glomerulus filters your blood, and the tubule returns needed substances to your blood and removes wastes. The kidneys are 2 bean-shaped organs.

They are located below the ribs toward the middle of the back. Their function is to:. Keep a stable balance of chemicals, such as salts and other substances in the blood. The kidneys remove waste products called urea from the blood through tiny filtering units called nephrons. There are about one million nephrons in each kidney. Each nephron consists of a ball formed of small blood capillaries, called a glomerulus, and a small tube called a renal tubule. Blood enters the glomerulus and is filtered there.

This filtered fluid then passes through the tubule where substances and water are added or removed. The fluid that remains is urine. Once the urine is formed, it passes through the nephrons and down the renal tubules of the kidney.