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12.9: Other Functions Of The Kidney

  • Page ID
    2791
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    The excretion of urea from the body and the maintenance of water balance, as described above, are the main functions of the kidney. However, the kidneys have other roles in keeping conditions in the body stable i.e. in maintaining homeostasis. These include:

    • controlling the concentration of salt ions (Na+, K+, Cl-) in the blood by adjusting how much is excreted or retained;
    • maintaining the correct acidity of the blood. Excess acid is constantly being produced by the normal chemical reactions in the body and the kidney eliminates this.

    Contributors and Attributions

    Ruth Lawson (Otago Polytechnic; Dunedin, New Zealand)


    This page titled 12.9: Other Functions Of The Kidney is shared under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Ruth Lawson via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.