The Kidney Connection

Your kidneys are located deep in the abdominal cavity near your back, just above your waist. Although most people are born with two, you can live normally with just one healthy kidney.

Each kidney contains millions of tiny filters called nephrons that work continuously to perform two important functions:

	Filtering waste from your body
	Maintaining your chemical and fluid balance

The filtering function
The kidneys produce urine to carry the waste they have filtered out of your body. Urine then travels from the kidneys to your bladder, where it is stored. When you urinate, it passes out through the urethra. If the kidneys' filtering system fails, it can cause a serious and potentially dangerous condition called uremia.

The maintenance function
The kidneys control fluid volume and chemistry by helping to balance the chemicals in your blood, including sodium, potassium, and calcium. Proper balance is necessary for your other bodily systems to work efficiently. An imbalance may affect various organ systems in your body.

And hormone production, too
Your kidneys also produce hormones that help regulate your blood pressure and stimulate the production of red blood cells. Too much of one of these hormones can cause high blood pressure, and too little of the other can cause anemia.

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