How do your kidneys work? - Emma Bryce

Kako delujejo tvoje ledvice? - Emma Bryce

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Matej Divjak

It's a hot day,

Vroč dan je

in pravkar ste popili kar nekaj kozarcev vode,

and you've just downed several glasses of water,

one after the other.

enega za drugim.

Behind the sudden urge that follows are two bean-shaped organs

Za potrebo, ki sledi, stojita dva organa v obliki fižola,

that work as fine-tuned internal sensors.

ki delujeta kot dva natančna notranja senzorja.

They balance the amount of fluid in your body,

Uravnavata količino tekočine v telesu,

detect waste in your blood,

zaznavata odpadne snovi v telesu

in vesta, kdaj sprostiti vitamine, minerale

and know when to release the vitamins, minerals,

and hormones you need to stay alive.

in hormone, ki jih potrebuješ, da ostaneš živ.

Say hello to your kidneys.

Pozdravite svoje ledvice.

The main role of these organs is to dispose of waste products

Glavna naloga tega organa je, da odstrani odpadne snovi

and to turn them into urine.

in da jih spremeni v urin.

The body's eight liters of blood pass through the kidneys

Osem litrov krvi, ki je v telesu, gre skozi ledvice

between 20 and 25 times each day,

med 20 in 25-krat vsak dan,

meaning that, together, these organs filter about 180 liters every 24 hours.

kar pomeni, da skupno ta organ filtrira okoli 180 litrov vsak dan, vsakih 24 ur.

The ingredients in your blood are constantly changing

Sestavine v krvi se neprestano spreminjajo,

as you ingest food and drink,

ko zaužiješ hrano in pijačo,

which explains why the kidneys need to be on permanent duty.

kar pojasni, zakaj morajo biti ledvice neprestano aktivne.

Blood enters each kidney through arteries that branch and branch,

Kri vstopa v vsako ledvico prek arterij, ki se delijo in delijo,

until they form tiny vessels that entwine with special internal modules,

dokler ne oblikujejo majhnih žilic, ki se prepletajo s posebnimi notranjimi moduli

called nephrons.

imenovanimi nefroni.

In each kidney,

V vsaki ledvici,

1 million of these nephrons form a powerful array of filters and sensors

1 milijon teh nefronov oblikuje močno zbirko filtrov in senzorjev,

that carefully sift through the blood.

ki previdno precejajo kri.

This is where we see just how refined

Tu lahko vidimo, kako zelo prefinjen

and accurate this internal sensing system is.

in natančen je ta notranji zaznavni sistem.

To filter the blood, each nephron uses two powerful pieces of equipment:

Za filtriranje krvi, vsak nefron uporablja dva močna kosa opreme:

a blob-like structure called a glomerulus, and a long, stringy, straw-like tubule.

mehurčkasto strukturo, imenovano glomerul, in dolg, vlaknast, slamici podoben tubul.

The glomerulus works like a sieve, allowing only certain ingredients,

Glomerul deluje kot cedilo, ki dovoli samo določenim sestavinam,

such as vitamins and minerals, to pass into the tubule.

kot so vitamini in minerali, da gredo v tubul.

Then, this vessel's job is to detect

Nato je naloga teh žil, da zaznajo

whether any of those ingredients are needed in the body.

ali je katerakoli od teh sestavin potrebna v telesu.

If so, they're reabsorbed in amounts that the body needs,

Če da, se absorbira v količini, ki jo telo potrebuje,

so they can circulate in the blood again.

tako da lahko spet krožijo po krvi.

But the blood doesn't only carry useful ingredients.

Ampak kri ne nosi samo uporabnih sestavin.

It contains waste products, too.

Vsebuje tudi odpadne snovi.

And the nephrons have to figure out what to do with them.

In nefroni morajo ugotoviti, kaj z njimi storiti.

The tubules sense compounds the body doesn't need,

Tubuli zaznajo spojine, ki jih telo ne potrebuje

kot sečnino, ki ostane po razgradnji proteinov,

like urea, left over from the breakdown of proteins,

and redirects them as urine out of the kidneys

in jih preusmeri kot urin ven iz ledvic

and through two long sewers called ureters.

in skozi dva dolga odtočna kanala, imenovana uretra.

The tubes empty their contents into the bladder to be discharged,

Te cevi izpraznijo svojo vsebino v mehur, da se odstrani

ridding your body of that waste once and for all.

in s tem se tvoje telo znebi teh odpadkov za vedno.

There's water in that urine, too.

Tudi voda je v tem urinu.

If the kidney detects too much of it in your blood,

Če ledvice zaznajo, da jo je v krvi preveč,

for instance, when you've chugged several glasses at once,

ko si, naprimer, popil nekaj kozarcev naenkrat,

it sends the extra liquid to the bladder to be removed.

pošlje dodatno tekočino v mehur, da se izloči.

On the other hand, low water levels in the blood

Po drugi strani, nizka količina vode v krvi,

prompt the kidney to release some back into the blood stream,

spodbudi ledvice, da je nekaj sprostijo nazaj v krvni obtok,

meaning that less water makes it into the urine.

kar pomeni, da v urin pride manj vode.

This is why urine appears yellower when you're less hydrated.

Zato je urin bolj rumen, ko ste manj hidrirani.

By controlling water, your kidneys stabilize the body's fluid levels.

Z nadzorovanjem vode vaše ledvice stabilizirajo raven tekočin v telesu.

But this fine balancing act isn't the kidney's only skill.

A to fino uravnavanje ni edina sposobnost ledvic.

These organs have the power to activate vitamin D

Ta organ ima sposobnost aktivacije vitamina D,

to secrete a hormone called renin that raises blood pressure,

da se izloča hormon, imenovan renin, ki dviguje krvni tlak,

and another hormone called erythropoietin,

in še en hormon, imenovan eritropoetin,

which increases red blood cell production.

ki poveča produkcijo rdečih krvnih celic.

Without the kidneys, our bodily fluids would spiral out of control.

Brez ledvic, bi bile naše tekočine v telesu nenadzorovane.

Every time we ate, our blood would receive another load of unsifted ingredients.

Vsakič, ko bi jedli, bi naša kri prejela še eno pošiljko neprecejenih sestavin.

Soon, the buildup of waste would overload our systems and we'd expire.

Tako bi kopičenje odpadnih snovi v telesu preobremenilo naše telo in bi umrli.

So each kidney not only keeps things running smoothly.

Tako vsaka ledvica ne skrbi samo, da stvari gladko tečejo.

It also keeps us alive.

Ohranja naš žive.

Lucky then that we have two of these magical beans.

Še dobro, da sta ta magična fižolčka kar dva.