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Water Balance. Balancing Act. Water is vital to life. It is required for both chemical reactions and the excretion of waste. Your body adjusts the amount of urine you produce to coincide with the amount of water used by the body.
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Balancing Act • Water is vital to life. It is required for both chemical reactions and the excretion of waste. • Your body adjusts the amount of urine you produce to coincide with the amount of water used by the body. • The hormone that regulates water balance is called antidiuretic hormone or ADH.
Regulating ADH – Part I • ADH primarily acts on the kidneys, causing them to increase the rate of water reabsorption. • The osmoreceptors of the hypothalamus (brain) detects the osmotic pressure of the blood. • When water is lost – the solute concentration (dissolved stuff) in the blood increases and the osmotic pressure increases. It’s like the blood turning from water to concrete. • More water needs to move into the bloodstream in order to balance out the solutes – osmosis.
Regulating ADH – Part II • When water intake is decreased or water loss is increased (by sweating, for example) – cells of hypothalamus shrink and tell pituitary to release ADH. • ADH travels to kidneys and signals the reabsorption of more water. More water back into blood and less into urine. • Shrinking hypothalamus cells also initiate the sensation of thirst. You drink and more water moves into the system to replenish the low concentration in the blood. • As hypothalamus cells swell again, the hypothalamus sends a message to the pituitary and the release of ADH is lessened.
Kidneys & Blood Pressure • Kidneys also help balance blood pressure through the use of a hormone called aldosterone. • Aldosterone increases the reabsorption of sodium ions (Na+) from the nephron, which in turn attracts more water to follow. • The water will follow the salt and try to balance it out. Put salt in blood and water comes after it and blood pressure goes back up.
Blood Pressure – Detailed • Glomerulus has low blood pressure detector. When blood pressure is low – it releases renin. • Renin causes angiotensinogen to become angiotensin. • Angiotensin causes release of aldosterone from the adrenal glands; this acts to bump up the blood pressure through reabsorption of water. • Angiotensin also constricts (squeezes) blood vessels to help increase pressure.
pH Balance • The kidneys help maintain pH balance in the blood by using a buffer system that includes the following… H2O + CO2 H2CO3 HCO3- + H+ • The carbonic acid (H2CO3) can lower blood pH while the bicarbonate (HCO3-) can raise blood pH.