DISORDERS OF EXCRETORY SYSTEM
• Uremia:
Accumulation of urea in the blood due to malfunction of the kidney. It may lead to kidney failure (renal failure).
• Renal calculi:
Stone or insoluble mass of crystallized salts (oxalates, etc.) formed within the kidney.
• Glomerulonephritits:
Inflammation of glomeruli.
Hemodialysis
– It is a process of removal of urea in patients with uremia. – The dialyzing unit (artificial kidney) contains a coiled cellophane tube surrounded by dialyzing fluid ( It has the same composition of plasma except for nitrogenous wastes.)
– Blood drained from a convenient artery is pumped into the dialyzing unit after adding anticoagulant like heparin.
– The porous cellophane membrane of the tube allows the passage of molecules based on the concentration gradient.
– As nitrogenous wastes are absent in dialyzing fluid, these substances freely move out, thereby clearing the blood.
– The purified blood is pumped back to the body through a vein after adding anti-heparin to it.
Kidney transplantation
– It is the ultimate method in the correction of acute renal failures. A functioning kidney is taken from a donor.
– It is better to receive a kidney from a close relative to minimize chances of rejection by the immune system of the host.
UREA CYCLE
