Chapter 9 of 14All chapters
Chapter 9 of 14
Kidneys and liver
Two very different filters.
The kidneys
The kidneys filter waste out of the blood and send it away as urine, working through the whole blood supply many times a day. They also control water balance and blood pressure.
- Each kidney holds about a million filtering units called nephrons.
- Most of what is filtered is reabsorbed, and only the surplus leaves.
The liver
The liver handles the chemical side: breaking down alcohol and drugs, storing glucose as glycogen, making proteins for the blood and producing bile. It is the only human organ that regenerates substantially.