Oracle IAS, the best coaching institute for UPSC/IAS/PCS preparation in Dehradun brings to you UKPCS Science Life Sciences (paper 6- Excretory system
Introduction:
The excretory system is the system of an organism’s body that performs the function of excretion, the bodily process of discharging wastes.
The excretory system is a passive biological system that removes excess, unnecessary materials from the body fluids of an organism, so as to help maintain internal chemical homeostasis and prevent damage to the body. The dual function of excretory systems is the elimination of the waste products of metabolism and to drain the body of used up and broken down components in a liquid and gaseous state. In humans and other amniotes (mammals, birds and reptiles) most of these substances leave the body as urine and to some degree exhalation, mammals also expel them through sweating.
Systems
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Urinary system
The kidneys are bean-shaped organs which are present on each side of the vertebral column in the abdominal cavity. Humans have two kidneys and each kidney is supplied with blood from the renal artery. The kidneys remove from the blood the nitrogenous wastes such as urea, as well as salts and excess water, and excrete them in the form of urine. This is done with the help of millions of nephrons present in the kidney. The filtrated blood is carried away from the kidneys by the renal vein (or kidney vein). The urine from the kidney is collected by the ureter (or excretory tubes), one from each kidney, and is passed to the urinary bladder. The urinary bladder collects and stores the urine until urination. The urine collected in the bladder is passed into the external environment from the body through an opening called the urethra.
Kidneys
The kidney’s primary function is the elimination of waste from the bloodstream by production of urine. They perform several homeostatic functions such as:-
Maintain volume of extracellular fluid
Maintain ionic balance in extracellular fluid
Maintain pH and osmotic concentration of the extracellular fluid.
Excrete toxic metabolic by-products such as urea, ammonia, and uric acid.
The way the kidneys do this is with nephrons. There are over 1 million nephrons in each kidney; these nephrons act as filters inside the kidneys. The kidneys filter needed materials and waste, the needed materials go back into the bloodstream, and unneeded materials becomes urine and is gotten rid of.
Ureter
The ureters are muscular ducts that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In the human adult, the ureters are usually 25–30 cm (10–12 in) long. In humans, the ureters arise from the renal pelvis. The backflow of urine is prevented by valves known as ureterovesical valves. In the female, the ureters pass through the mesometrium on the way to the bladder.
Urinary bladder
The urinary bladder is the organ that collects waste excreted by the kidneys prior to disposal by urination. It is a hollow muscular, and distensible (or elastic) organ, and sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra.
Urethra
It is a tube which connects the urinary bladder to the outside of the body. In humans, the urethra has an excretory function in both genders to pass.
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Respiratory system
One of the main functions of the lungs is to diffuse gaseous wastes, such as carbon dioxide, from the bloodstream as a normal part of respiration.
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Gastrointestinal tract
The large intestine’s main function is to transport food particles through the body and expel the indigestible parts at the other end, but it also collects waste from throughout the body. The typical brown colour of mammal waste is due to bilirubin, a breakdown product of normal heme catabolism. The lower part of the large intestine also extracts any remaining usable water and then removes solid waste. At about 10 feet long in humans, it transports the wastes through the tubes to be excreted.
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Biliary system
The liver detoxifies and breaks down chemicals, poisons and other toxins that enter the body. For example, the liver transforms ammonia (which is poisonous) into urea in fish, amphibians and mammals, and into uric acid in birds and reptilesThe liver also produces bile, and the body uses bile to break down fats into usable fats and unusable waste.
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Integumentary system
Skin
Sweat glands in the skin secrete a fluid waste called sweat or perspiration; however, its primary functions are temperature control and pheromone release. Therefore, its role as a part of the excretory system is minimal. Sweating also maintains the level of salt in the body.
Eccrine
Like sweat glands, eccrine glands allow excess water to leave the body. The majority of eccrine glands are located mainly on the forehead, the bottoms of the feet, and the palms, although the glands are everywhere throughout the body. They help the body to maintain temperature control. Eccrine glands in the skin are unique to mammals.
Substances released
Bile
After bile is produced in the liver, it is stored in the gall bladder. It is then secreted within the small intestine where it helps to break down ethanol, fats and other acidic wastes including ammonia, into harmless substances.
Bile salts can be considered waste that is useful for the body given that they have a role in fat absorption from the stomach.
There is inflammation of the ducts due to the irritation from the bile acids and this can cause infections. If rupture of the duct takes place it is very traumatic and even fatal.
Urine
Within the kidney, blood first passes through the afferent artery to the capillary formation called a glomerulus and is collected in the Bowman’s capsule, which filters the blood from its contents—primarily food and wastes. After the filtration process, the blood then returns to collect the food nutrients it needs, while the wastes pass into the collecting duct, to the renal pelvis, and to the ureter, and are then secreted out of the body via the urinary bladder.
Faeces
Sweat.
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