If both liver and kidneys are cleaning the blood, what’s the difference between them?
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You constantly need to remove stuff from your blood. Your liver breaks down everything above a certain size. Your kidneys filter out everything below a certain size. Your liver does this by making proteins that bond to and breakdown stuff. Your kidneys are mostly just filters with very tiny holes (called nephrons). Your kidneys and liver do other things too.
There’s actually a size in between where compounds can last for a long time in your body.
The liver processes your blood, breaking any complex or dangerous compounds down so they’re easier to work with. In terms of “cleaning”, it tries to make things more water-soluble so they can be dissolved in urine. It’s also where most things get metabolised (like sugar and alcohol).
The kidneys filter your blood for impurities, so they can put those impurities into urine for your bladder to dispose of. They also regulate your blood for other things, like water and electrolytes. Really anything that can be “too high”.
Tldr: The liver chops things up. The kidneys filter things out.
One metabolises compounds, ie. conversion of Codeine to Morphine, or hormone synthesis such as Cholesterol to Progesterone (liver) and the other is a filtration system for waste products ie. Urea that would otherwise build up to toxic levels within the bloodstream (kidneys). Essentially, your liver breaks compounds down, to be removed from the body via the kidneys.
The liver processes your blood, breaking any complex or dangerous compounds down so they’re easier to work with. In terms of “cleaning”, it tries to make things more water-soluble so they can be dissolved in urine. It’s also where most things get metabolised (like sugar and alcohol).
The kidneys filter your blood for impurities, so they can put those impurities into urine for your bladder to dispose of. They also regulate your blood for other things, like water and electrolytes. Really anything that can be “too high”.
Tldr: The liver chops things up. The kidneys filter things out.
Your liver makes stuff more water soluble so it can go into your blood then urine
Your kidneys filter the waste from your blood into urine
Your liver makes stuff more water soluble so it can go into your blood then urine
Your kidneys filter the waste from your blood into urine
That’s easy to explain, but tough to ELI5. My attempt.
Think of the stuff that needs to be cleaned out of your blood as little Lego builds. Think of the kidney as a filter, and the liver like Wreck it Ralph.
If the Lego builds are the right shape and small enough, then they fall through the filter holes of the kidney and get removed from the blood. If they’re too big or the wrong shape, the liver smashes them into smaller pieces so they’ll eventually fit through the filter holes of the kidney. The kidneys and liver work together to clean the blood.
Massive oversimplification, but I reckon that might resonate with my 5 year old. I may even try it out with them using toys to explain it. 🙂
That’s easy to explain, but tough to ELI5. My attempt.
Think of the stuff that needs to be cleaned out of your blood as little Lego builds. Think of the kidney as a filter, and the liver like Wreck it Ralph.
If the Lego builds are the right shape and small enough, then they fall through the filter holes of the kidney and get removed from the blood. If they’re too big or the wrong shape, the liver smashes them into smaller pieces so they’ll eventually fit through the filter holes of the kidney. The kidneys and liver work together to clean the blood.
Massive oversimplification, but I reckon that might resonate with my 5 year old. I may even try it out with them using toys to explain it. 🙂
Very simply put: The liver is the first filter for blood; food goes from the stomach to the small intestine, the blood (or things needed to created blood) in the small intestine maintains an imbalance that “has to be righted” so, blood is pulled out of that mix and goes into the liver. The liver is more diverse in its functions than the kidneys in that it processes *everything (aside from many “toxins”)* to make them more useful for various organs. One of its function is to break down nitrogenous substances into urea to send to the kidneys. The kidneys separate the urea and some other toxins from useful compounds. The useful nutrients from the blood go back to the body, the harmful ones (urea, some toxins) are excreted through urine. As liver function declines so does its efficacy in differing between substances, therefore, some that shouldn’t make their way to the kidneys manage it. As you can imagine, the kidneys, unprepared as they are for this sudden onslaught, experience difficulties.
Kidneys therefore function, simply, to separate urine and useful blood nutrients post processing by the liver. The liver functions as a primary filter that sends compounds from the blood garnered from within the digestive process to the kidneys (and many other organs) that the kidneys are capable of processing. Acting as a control center for blood within the digestive tract, it processes nutrients for “transfer” into the bloodstream and towards various organs. Those organs include the brain, which is why getting “high” is possible; your liver sends a cavalcade of compounds to the brain and central nervous system, eliciting a reaction.
Very simply put: The liver is the first filter for blood; food goes from the stomach to the small intestine, the blood (or things needed to created blood) in the small intestine maintains an imbalance that “has to be righted” so, blood is pulled out of that mix and goes into the liver. The liver is more diverse in its functions than the kidneys in that it processes *everything (aside from many “toxins”)* to make them more useful for various organs. One of its function is to break down nitrogenous substances into urea to send to the kidneys. The kidneys separate the urea and some other toxins from useful compounds. The useful nutrients from the blood go back to the body, the harmful ones (urea, some toxins) are excreted through urine. As liver function declines so does its efficacy in differing between substances, therefore, some that shouldn’t make their way to the kidneys manage it. As you can imagine, the kidneys, unprepared as they are for this sudden onslaught, experience difficulties.
Kidneys therefore function, simply, to separate urine and useful blood nutrients post processing by the liver. The liver functions as a primary filter that sends compounds from the blood garnered from within the digestive process to the kidneys (and many other organs) that the kidneys are capable of processing. Acting as a control center for blood within the digestive tract, it processes nutrients for “transfer” into the bloodstream and towards various organs. Those organs include the brain, which is why getting “high” is possible; your liver sends a cavalcade of compounds to the brain and central nervous system, eliciting a reaction.
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