1

HOMEOSTASIS
Homeostasis is the maintenance of a fairly constant internal environment (body fluid
such as blood, lymph and tissue fluid) of an organism. All living organisms must be able to
adjust to any change in physical and chemical conditions in its body fluids and some of the
conditions include body temperature, pH, osmotic pressure etc.
Parts of the body which are involved in homeostasis are:
(i) Kidney
(ii) Liver
(iii) Ductless glands (Endocrine glands) –Hormones (plant and animal)
(iv) Skin
(v) Brain. The brain has overall control of the homeostasis processes in the body.
THE KIDNEY
Kidneys are pairs of bean shaped organs found in the body. The structure of the mammalian
kidney remains as found in the second term note. Hence, refer to it.

FUNCTIONS OF THE KIDNEYS

(1) Osmoregulation: Osmoregulation is the process of regulating the balance between water and
salts in the body fluids. The body does not have room for excess or shortage of water or salt.
Hence, the constant need to strike a balance between the two (water and salt).
Unicellular organisms (e.g Paramecium, Amoeba) do not have kidneys, instead, they
have contractile vacuoles. The cell content of Paramecium is hypertonic to the external
medium, hence, water enters by osmosis into the cytoplasm and then into the contractile vacuole.
To prevent the cell from being overturgid and bursting, the contractile vacuole discharges its
content from time to time hence, maintaining the amount of water in Paramecium.
(2) Maintenance of acid base balance. When the body fluid becomes acidic, more acid is
excreted by the kidney with the urine. Also excessive loss of bases is prevented by the kidney
and more salts will be excreted with the urine when base concentration becomes higher.
(3) Excretion (Formation of urine): The process involved in the formation of urine remains as
discussed in second term, hence refer to it.
Conditions affecting the functioning of the kidney
1. Drugs
2. Habitat
3. Environmental temperature
1
 2

DISEASES OF THE KIDNEYS

There are four main diseases that affect the kidney. These are
-Diuresis
-Nephritis
-Oedema or Dropsy
-Kidney stone
(1) Diuresis:
Diuresis is a condition in which the cells of the kidney tubules are not reabsorbing water from
the glomerular filtrate and as a result, a large amount of water is passed out in urine.
Effects of diuresis:
(i) It lead to excretion of large amount of urine
(ii) There is a high thirst for water
(iii) Diuresis leads to loss of weight
(iv) It also leads to emaciation
Remedy:
(i) Surgical operation should be performed on the patient
(ii) Drugs such as diuretics should be administered to get rid of excess water in the body.
Note: someone having Diabetes Insipidus can also be prone to this disease since enough ADH is
not been produced. Hence, less water is reabsorbed by the kidney and the person produces about
5-20 litres of urine daily.

(2) NEPHRITIS:
Nephritis is a condition in which the blood vessels in Bowman’s capsule (Glomerular) become
inflamed and porous such that they cannot carry out the function of ultra-filtration completely.
Effects of Nephritis
(i) Inflammation of the kidney
(ii) Presence of amino acids in urine
(iii) Weakness of the body
(iv) Fever and pains.
(3) KIDNEY STONES:
A Kidney stone is caused by some diseased growths within the tubules resulting in the
blockage or obstruction in the passage if urine.

2
 3

Effects of kidney stones:

(i) It obstructs the passage of urine
(ii) Pain is experienced on passing out urine.
(iii) Severe abdominal pain
(iv) High blood pressure, fever and blood in the urine
Remedy
(i) Intake of a lot of water
(ii) Reduction in protein intake
(iii) Nephectomy (Opening of the kidney to remove stones)
(iv) Patient should avoid excessive use of calcium
4. OEDEMA OR DROPSY
This is a condition in which the cells of the Bowman’s capsule are unable to absorb water
from the blood in the tubules leading to the retain id water in the blood and swelling of some
parts of the body.
Effects of Oedema
i) It leads to sluggishness
ii) It results in abdominal pains
iii) Swelling in faces and ankles
iv) Weakness and fatigue
Remedy
a. Reduction in the amount of water intake
b. Kidney transplant.

NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A PAGE AFTER EACH TOPIC FOR FURTHER
JOTTING