Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Kidney |
KidneyNoun1. Either of two bean-shaped excretory organs that filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them and water in urine; urine passes out of the kidney through ureters to the bladder. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "kidney" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1598. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Medicine | Organs of animal origin. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Kidney Men of another kidney or of the same kidney. The reins or kidneys were even by the Jews supposed to be the seat of the affections. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | KIDNEY. Disposition, principles, humour. Of a strange kidney; of an odd or unaccountable humour. A man of a different kidney; a man of different principles. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The kidneys are the most important excretory organ in vertebrates. Medical terms related to the kidneys either involve renal or nephro-. Nephrology is the study of the kidneys.In a normal human adult, each kidney is about 11 cm long and about 5 cm thick, weighing 150 grams. The kidneys are 'bean-shaped' organs, and have a concave side facing inwards (medially). On this medial aspect of each kidney is an opening, called the hilus, which admits the renal artery, the renal vein, nerves, and the ureter. A kidney is divided into a renal cortex, medulla and pelvis.
Section of a kidney The basic functional unit of the kidney is the nephron, of which there are more than a million in each normal adult kidney. Nephrons regulate water and soluble substances (especially ions) in the body by filtering it all out first, reabsorbing what should be kept and excreting the rest. They use countercurrent exchange mechanisms. A nephron consists of a Bowman's capsule, a proximal convoluted tubule, a loop of Henle and a distal convoluted tubule which empties the urine into a collecting duct.
Terms:
- renal capsule: The membranous covering of the kidney.
- cortex: The outer layer over the internal medulla. It contains blood vessels, glomeruli (which are the kidneys' "filters") and urine tubes and is supported by a fibrous matrix.
- hilus: The opening in the middle of the concave medial border for nerves and blood vessels to pass into the renal sinus.
- renal column: The structures which support the cortex. They consist of lines of blood vessels and urinary tubes and a fibrous material.
- renal sinus: The cavity which houses the renal pyramid.
- calyces: The recesses in the internal medulla which hold the pyramids. They are used to subdivide the sections of the kidney. (singular - calyx)
- papillae: The small conical projections along the wall of the renal sinus. They have openings through which urine passes into the calyces. (singular - papilla)
- pyramids: The conical segments within the internal medulla. They contain the secreting apparatus and tubules and are also called malpighian pyramids.
- renal artery: Two renal arteries come from the aorta, each connecting to a kidney. The artery divides into five branches, each of which leads to a ball of capillaries. The arteries supply (unfiltered) blood to the kidneys. The left kidney receives about 60% of the renal bloodflow.
- renal vein: The filtered blood returns to circulation through the renal veins which join into the inferior vena cava.
- renal pelvis: Basically just a funnel, the renal pelvis accepts the urine and channels it out of the hilus into the ureter.
- ureter: A narrow tube 40 cm long and 4 mm in diameter. Passing from the renal pelvis out of the hilus and down to the bladder. The ureter carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder.
Diseases and disorders
Congenital diseases of the kidneys
- Congenital hydronephrosis
- renal dysplasia
- Congenital obstruction of urinary tract
- horseshoe kidney
- duplicated ureter
Acquired diseases of the kidneys
- Kidney stones are a relatively common and particularly painful disorder.
- Pyelonephritis is infection of the kidneys and is frequently caused by complication of a urinary tract infection.
- Azotemia is a toxic condition characterized by abnormal and dangerously high levels of urea, creatinine, various body waste compounds, and other nitrogen-rich compounds in the blood.
- Hydronephrosis is the enlargement of one or both of the kidneys
- Pyelonephritis
- In nephrotic syndrome, the glomerulus has been damaged so that proteins from the blood can enter the urine
- kidney tumors
- Wilm's tumor
- Renal failure (acute and chronic)
- Glomerulonephritis
- Diabetic nephropathy
- Lupus nephritis
Diagnosis
The basic means to assess excretory function of the kidneys is glomerular filtration rate; usually a creatinine clearance test is performed
Dialysis and kidney transplants
Generally, one can live fine with just one kidney. If both kidneys don't function properly, dialysis is performed, where the blood is filtered outside of the body. Kidney transplants are now also quite common. The first successful such transplant was announced on March 4, 1954 by Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
See also
- Urology
- Nephrology
- Human anatomy
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Kidney."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Kidney stones are solid accretions (crystals) of dissolved minerals in urine found inside the kidneys. Also known as nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis or renal calculi. They vary in size from as small as a grain of sand to as large as a golf ball. Kidney stones typically leave the body in the urine stream; if they grow relatively large before passing, their jagged crystalline shape can cause severe pain in the ureters and urethra. Because the urethra is longer in males than in females, kidney stones are more likely to be a severe problem for men than for women.Consumption of too much calcium can aggravate the development of kidney stones, since the most common type of stone is calcium oxalate. The calcium renders these stones radio-opaque and they can be detected by an KUB. Other examples of kidney stones include struvite (magnesium, ammonium and phosphate), uric acid, calcium phosphate, or cystine (the amino acid found only in people suffering from cystinuria). There are many types of kidney stone, and a person may be susceptible to only some of them.
Symptoms
Kidney stones are often idiopathic and asymptomatic until they start to move, but symptoms can include acute renal colic, nausea and vomiting, restlessness, dull pain, hematuria, and possibly fever.
Treatment
Treatments include dietary modifications (including the advice to drink plenty of water), medications, and use of a lithotriptor. Surgery is rarely used to remove kidney stones; instead pain management is used while waiting for the stone to pass on its own. However, in severe cases, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, retrograde intrarenal surgery, percutaneous nephrolithotripsy, or open surgery may be necessary.
More Information
Kidney stones are unrelated to gallstones.Isaac Asimov suffered from kidney stones, and wrote about how his pain was treated with morphine, saying that he feared becoming addicted to it if he ever needed it again.
External Links:
- http://www.methodisthealth.com/urogen/stones.htm - Info on the disorder
- http://www.herringlab.com/photos/ - Pictures of kidney stones, showing their crystalline shape
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Kidney stone."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| KIE | English | Kidney inducibility element | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Class | Kind, sort, genus, species, variety, family, order, kingdom, race, tribe, caste, sept, clan, breed, type, subtype, kit, sect, set, subset; assortment; feather, kidney; suit; range; gender, sex, kin. |
Disease | Ague, angina pectoris, appendicitis; Asiatic cholera, spasmodic cholera; biliary calculus, kidney stone, black death, bubonic plague, pneumonic plague; blennorrhagia, blennorrhoea; blood poisoning, bloodstroke, bloody flux, brash; breakbone fever, dengue fever, malarial fever, Q-fever; heart attack, cardiac arrest, cardiomyopathy; hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis; bronchocele, canker rash, cardialgia, carditis, endocarditis; cholera, asphyxia; chlorosis, chorea, cynanche, dartre; enanthem, enanthema; erysipelas; exanthem, exanthema; gallstone, goiter, gonorrhea, green sickness; grip, grippe, influenza, flu; hay fever, heartburn, heaves, rupture, hernia, hemorrhoids, piles, herpes, itch, king's evil, lockjaw; measles, mumps, polio; necrosis, pertussis, phthisis, pneumonia, psora, pyaemia, pyrosis, quinsy, rachitis, ringworm, rubeola, St. Vitus's dance, scabies, scarlatina, scarlet fever, scrofula, seasickness, struma, syntexis, tetanus, tetter, tonsillitis, tonsilitis, tracheocele, trachoma, trismus, varicella, varicosis, variola, water qualm, whooping cough; yellow fever, yellow jack. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Kidney |
| English words defined with "kidney": arcuate artery of the kidney, arcuate vein of the kidney ♦ Floating kidney ♦ Gouty kidney ♦ kidney pie, kidney stone, kidney vetch ♦ Pelvis of the kidney, polycystic kidney disease ♦ Wandering kidney. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "kidney": Kidney Calculi, Kidney Concentrating Ability, Kidney Cortex Necrosis, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Kidney Glomerulus, Kidney Medulla, Kidney Neoplasms, Kidney Papillary Necrosis, Kidney Pelvis, Kidney Transplantation, Kidney Tubular Necrosis, Acute, Kidney Tubules, Collecting ♦ Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney ♦ Polycystic Kidney Diseases ♦ stage I kidney cancer, stage II kidney cancer, stage III kidney cancer, stage IV kidney cancer. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "kidney": Nephrostome. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | A nickel will buy you a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the polo grounds (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) If you ever need a kidney, you're welcome to one of mine (Fired Up; writing credit: Lu Abbott; Bill Barol) Of course, your kidney would make my other kidney do all the work, but that's sweet (Fired Up; writing credit: Lu Abbott; Bill Barol) | |
Clever | 1968: Rolling Stones. 1998: Kidney stones. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | I Am Joe's Kidney (1984) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Line drawing showing lateral view of male reproductive system (and kidney). Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | An overflowing grocery bag spills out. Broccoli, pears, red kidney beans, peppers and tomatoes are on a wooden table in a tight shot. See artwork: PV-44. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |
 | Much of the kidney has been replaced by gray and yellow tumor tissue. A little remaining renal cortex and pericapsular fat are visible at the bottom of this surgical specimen. Cancer. Credit: CDC. |  | Histopathology of cytomegalovirus infection of kidney tubule epithelial cells. Credit: CDC. |
 | [Acupuncture: Points for kidney disorders]. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases : 1887-1987 National Institutes of Health A Century of Science for Health. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Use Dr. Kilmer's Swamp Root Kidney Liver & Bladder Cure. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | The Great Sierra Kidney and Liver Cure. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Life Is Sacred : You Can Give Life... Be A Kidney Donor. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Give Life : Be A Kidney Donor. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Each gland is located above a kidney. (references) | |
This operation gives you a new kidney. (references) | ||
Calcium may form stones in the kidney. (references) | ||
Economic History | Greece | Only one dynamic Greek company manufactures advanced medical equipment, such as artificial kidney equipment and hemodialysis equipment. (references) |
Russia | These products include certain types of laser equipment, scanning probe microscopes, devices used for magnetotherapy in dentistry, knee joint implants, artificial heart, lung and kidney devices, three-channel microprocessing electrocardiographs, and endoscopes. (references) | |
Human Rights | China | According to government officials, he suffered from a variety of ailments, including digestive, urinary, kidney, and liver problems. (references) |
Worker Rights | United Arab Emirates | After being repatriated to Bangladesh, the boy died from kidney damage resulting from those injuries. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | URBANITY, n. The kind of civility that urban observers ascribe to dwellers in all cities but New York. Its commonest expression is heard in the words, "I beg your pardon," and it is not consistent with disregard of the rights of others. The owner of a powder mill Was musing on a distant hill -- Something his mind foreboded -- When from the cloudless sky there fell A deviled human kidney! Well, The man's mill had exploded. His hat he lifted from his head; "I beg your pardon, sir," he said; "I didn't know 'twas loaded." Swatkin |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Sarah Ferguson | You can have baked beans on toast. You can have steak and kidney pie. You can have fish and chips. What do you mean not famous! Fish and chips. Nothing better. Friday night. Fish and chip night. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Kidney" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.88% of the time. "Kidney" is used about 543 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 96.88% | 526 | 11,625 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.13% | 17 | 85,106 |
| Total | 100.00% | 543 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "kidney" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Kidney | Last name | 1,000 | 18,626 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "kidney": acute kidney failure ♦ arcuate artery of the kidney ♦ arcuate vein of the kidney ♦ artificial kidney ♦ be on a kidney machine ♦ chronic kidney failure ♦ contracted kidney ♦ embryoma of the kidney ♦ Floating kidney ♦ Gouty kidney ♦ have a stone removed from one's kidney ♦ Head kidney ♦ hemorrhagic kidney syndrome ♦ kidney bean ♦ kidney begonia ♦ Kidney Calculi ♦ Kidney Calices ♦ Kidney Concentrating Ability ♦ Kidney Cortex ♦ Kidney Cortex Necrosis ♦ kidney dialysis machine ♦ Kidney Disease ♦ kidney dish ♦ kidney donor ♦ Kidney Failure ♦ kidney fern ♦ Kidney Glomerulus ♦ kidney machine ♦ Kidney Medulla ♦ Kidney Neoplasms ♦ Kidney ore ♦ kidney pad ♦ Kidney Papillary Necrosis ♦ Kidney Pelvis ♦ kidney pie ♦ Kidney problems ♦ kidney punch ♦ kidney stone ♦ Kidney Stones ♦ Kidney Threshold ♦ kidney transplant ♦ Kidney Transplantation ♦ kidney vetch ♦ kidney wort ♦ movable kidney ♦ Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney ♦ pelvis of the kidney ♦ polycystic kidney ♦ polycystic kidney disease ♦ Polycystic Kidney Diseases ♦ pulpy kidney disease ♦ stage I kidney cancer ♦ stage II kidney cancer ♦ stage III kidney cancer ♦ stage IV kidney cancer ♦ steak and kidney pie ♦ wandering kidney ♦ waxy kidney. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "kidney": Kidney-form, kidney-machine, kidney-shaped, kidney-stone. | |
Ending with "kidney": liver-kidney, steak-and-kidney. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "kidney"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | nier. (various references) | |
Albanian | veshkë (adrenal), takëm (cutlery, furniture, harness, kit, movables, rig, service, table ware, tackle, trappings), lloj (assortment, brand, brood, cast, class, description, form, genre, kind, nature, persuasion, race, rate, shape, sort, species, stamp, stock, style, type, variety). (various references) | |
Arabic | كلية الحيوان, كلوي (nephritic, renal), مزاج (cast of mind, complexion, constitution, disposition, feather, figure, frame, frame of mind, framing, grain, humor, humour, mettle, mind, mood, nature, spirits, state of mind, temper, temperament, tone, vein), نوع (brood, change, class, description, form, gender, genus, grain, kind, manner, order, quality, ripeness, run, sex, sort, species, stripe, style, type, variegate, variety, vary), عملية زرع الكلى, ضرب (batter, battery, beat, beat off, belabour, biff, buffet, chastise, connect, curry, description, drub, drubbing, fib, flap, flapping, form, galvanize, genre, go getter, grain, hit, hitting, impact, jabbing, kind, lace, lace into smb., lam, larrup, let out, lock out, manner, multiplication, multiply, order, overtake, paddle, paste, pasting, patter, poke, pommel, pound, pummel, slash, slosh, sock, sort, stamp, strike, stripe, tan, tanning, thrash, thrashing, thresh, variety, wallop, whip). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | характер (character, complexion, constitution, disposition, fiber, fibre, grit, grittiness, individuality, make, make up, mentality, metal, mettle, mould, nature, pattern, spirit, stuff, temper, turn), като бъбрек, вид (air, appearance, aspect, blush, breed, cast, clan, class, complexion, demeanor, demeanour, description, form, genre, genus, grade, guise, kind, likeness, look, manner, mien, mode, nature, order, persuasion, presence, race, shape, show, similitude, sort, species, strain, stripe, style, taxon, type, variety, view), овален (oval, ovate), нрав (character, constitution, disposition, make, make up, metal, mettle, nature, temper, temperament), бъбрек. (various references) | |
Chamorro | riñón. (various references) | |
Chinese | 腎臟 , 腎 , 肾脏 (Kidneys, renal). (various references) | |
Czech | ledvina (loin). (various references) | |
Danish | nyre. (various references) | |
Dutch | nier. (various references) | |
Esperanto | reno. (various references) | |
Faeroese | nýra. (various references) | |
Farsi | مزاج (Blood, Health, Temper, Temperament), نوع (Brand, Breed, Class, Gender, Genus, Ilk, Issue, Kind, Manner, Nature, Navigate, Order, Persuasion, Quality, Sort, Species, Speckle, Stamp, Suit, Type, Variety), کلیه (All), قلوه , گرده (Granule, Haunch, Loin), خلق (Humor, Mood, People, Temper, Temperament). (various references) | |
Finnish | munuainen. (various references) | |
French | rein, rognon. (various references) | |
German | Niere. (various references) | |
Greek | νεφρό. (various references) | |
Hebrew | כלי". (various references) | |
Hungarian | vese (kidneys, renal). (various references) | |
Icelandic | nýra. (various references) | |
Indonesian | nir (NON), ginjal. (various references) | |
Irish | duÚn, Úra. (various references) | |
Italian | rene (small), rognone. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 腎" . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | じ"ぞう (artificial, man-made, synthetic). (various references) | |
Korean | 장 (Elongation, Kidneys, renal). (various references) | |
Manx | aarey (ladder, reins, scale, shroud). (various references) | |
Norwegian | nyre. (various references) | |
Papiamen | riñon, nir. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | idneykay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | rim (kidneys). (various references) | |
Romanian | rinichi. (various references) | |
Russian | склад характера (make), темперамент (mettle, temperament, zip), почка почечный, почка (bud, burgeon, gemma). (various references) | |
Scottish | ra. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | bubreg. (various references) | |
Shona | itsvo. (various references) | |
Sicilian | rini. (various references) | |
Spanish | riñón (haunch). (various references) | |
Sranan | niri. (various references) | |
Swazi | în-só. (various references) | |
Swedish | njure. (various references) | |
Thai | ไต. (various references) | |
Turkish | böbrek (nephritic, renal). (various references) | |
Turkmen | pyntyk (bud), bцwrek. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | склад характеру, темперамент (temperament, temperature, zip), нирковий (nephritic, renal), нирка. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tính khí (mood, temperament), loại (design, eliminatory, genre, grade, order, sort), bản chất (composition, inbeing, make-up, nature, quiddity). (various references) | |
Welsh | elwlen, aren (arms). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ren. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "kidney": kidneys. (additional references) | |
| |
"Kidney" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Cadney, chidney, Ekiden, Gadney, kandiye, kedney, kedny, kedsey, kiddney, Kidner, kidnet, kidny, kindy, Kinex, kinry, Kitley, Kitney, Kondeyne, Kundy, kydney. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "kidney" (pronounced 'Kid"ney'): Carney, Chimney, Macartney, Pigsney, Rumney, Shinney, Turney. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: dinkey. | |
| Words within the letters "d-e-i-k-n-y" | |
-1 letter: dikey, dinky, inked. | |
-2 letters: deni, deny, dike, dine, dink, dyke, dyne, inky, kind, kine, nide. | |
-3 letters: den, dey, die, din, dye, end, ink, ken, key, kid, kin, yen, yid, yin. | |
-4 letters: de, ed, en, id, in, ne, ye. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-e-i-k-n-y" | |
+1 letter: dinkeys, kidneys. | |
+2 letters: kyanised, kyanized. | |
+4 letters: dyskinesia, dyskinetic, kindlessly, unladylike. | |
+5 letters: bookbindery, cockneyfied, dyskinesias, hyperlinked, keyboarding. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Abbreviations 16. Acronyms | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
