medical terms for urinary system

• The Urinary System, otherwise known as the renal system, serves many purposes.

  • One of these purposes is the elimination of waste products through urination.
• Other functions include:

  • Regulation of blood pressure, blood volume, and blod pH
  • Production of red blood cells (erythopoiesis = erythro poiesis) synthesis of vitamin D
• Urea: end product of waste excretion by the kidneys
• Urology: branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of disease of the urinary tract and the urogenital system
• urologist: a physician who specializes in diseases of the urinary tract and the male reproductive system
• The major structures of the urinary system include:

  • Right and left kidneys: produce hormones, absorb minerals, filter blood, and produce urine
  • Right and left ureters: passageways of urine
  • Bladder: urine storage
  • Urethra: the tubular passage through which urine is expelled from the body
• The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney, it has three functions namely:

  • Glomerular filtration
  • Tubular reabsorption
  • Tubular secretion
• Urolithiasis = presence of urinary stones
• Cystolithiasis = presence of stones in the urinary bladder
• Nephrolithiasis = presence of stones in the kidneys