Functions of the Human Excretory System and Its Organs – Discussing about the functions of the human excretory system, of course we can analogize when someone is exercising, then that person will sweat. This is actually because there are many toxic substances from the rest of the metabolism that are released and are no longer useful for the body. Well, the process of removing these toxic substances from the body is commonly known as excretion.
However, the excretory process is not just sweating. Another excretion process is when a person urinates or defecates. This is done to remove toxic substances that precipitate and become residual substances from metabolism. All of these elimination processes are basically run and regulated by the excretory system.
In this article, we will discuss the function of the human excretory system in full and depth. The human excretory system consists of the kidneys, liver, large intestine, skin, and lungs. Let’s see in full so that you better understand how the exhaust system works in your body.
A. Human Excretory System
The excretory system is basically a biological system that has the function of disposing of or removing various substances that are no longer used by living bodies. Substances from the rest of the metabolism itself in the form of compounds that are toxic or toxic. If it is not removed, of course it can cause the body to experience disturbances in some of its organ functions.
That way, we can call the excretory system the way the body does to remove toxic substances from the human body. This mechanism itself has a very important function for the body in maintaining homeostasis (balance of the body’s internal conditions) and preventing damage to the body.
Referring to the notes written by Fictor Ferdinand and Moekti Ariebowo in Practical Learning Biology (2007:138), the human body itself is known to contain several waste products of metabolism that are not needed, and even tend to be harmful, namely carbon dioxide, excess water, and urea.
This is certainly not the same as excess water caused by drinking too much or consuming liquids. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide is a waste product of metabolism resulting from the process of respiration (breathing). Meanwhile, urea is a residual substance from the process of breaking down protein.
B. Organs and Functions of the Human Excretory System
All living things in this world are basically equipped with the ability to maintain a balance of metabolism in the body so that it remains in normal conditions. Of course this can be done by keeping the water levels in the body in balance. Balanced itself can be interpreted in a condition that is not excessive and not lacking.
If there are residual substances from the body’s metabolic processes that are not needed, then the excretory system in humans has a function as a tool to remove these waste substances. Biologically, humans have organs that function as excretory systems. The following is an explanation of the organs responsible for carrying out the human excretion process, including:
1. Kidneys
When humans consume food, drink, and other medicines, residues or waste substances that have gone through the digestive process of the body will be found. The human body itself actually produces waste products when repairing various damaged cells or when carrying out the body’s metabolism to produce energy.
The human organ that has the most important function in the excretory system is the Kidney. The kidneys themselves function to remove residual substances that have toxic properties in the blood and other excess fluids. If it is not immediately removed from the body, it could be that these waste substances will accumulate in the blood. This of course can cause some problems in the health of the human body.
We know for ourselves that the entire human body consists of blood that flows in and out of the kidneys many times for 24 hours without stopping. The kidney is an organ of the human body which also has the function of filtering incoming blood as well as disposing of waste in it through urine. Then, the blood that comes out of the kidneys will return to flow throughout the body.
The body itself is known to excrete urine through the urethra when urinating. There are about two liters of waste substances that can be excreted from the body in the form of urine. The process of excretion in the kidneys has a very important function to maintain the balance of fluids and other chemicals in the human body.
2. Heart (Liver)
The function of the kidney in the human excretory system as a tool for excreting waste has a close relationship with liver function. In the human excretory system of the kidneys, the process of filtering blood is first carried out in the liver to separate some of the waste.
One of the residual or waste substances removed by the liver can be called ammonia. Ammonia itself is a substance that comes from the process of breaking down proteins in the body. If the human body cannot get rid of ammonia, it can cause health problems, such as kidney disease, impaired brain function, and even coma.
Therefore, the liver is an organ that has an important function for the human body to break down ammonia into urea. After being successfully broken down into urea, this substance will be carried by the blood to the kidneys to go through the next filtering process. As previously stated, the kidneys will filter urea from the blood and excrete it through the urine along with other waste substances.
While this process is taking place, the liver is also known to produce another by-product, namely bile. This dark colored bile will be stored temporarily in the gallbladder. Then, the new bile will drain the liquid towards the intestine when humans want to digest fatty foods.
3. Colon
The large intestine actually does not only have a function to regulate fluid levels in the results of food digestion. One part of the digestive tract apparently also has other side tasks as part of the excretory system in the human body.
The food that you initially swallow and enters the stomach can be turned into fine mush. This fine porridge is often referred to as kim. After that, the kim then moves towards the small intestine to go to the next process, namely the absorption of nutrients. When all the nutrients have been absorbed optimally, the kim will move back to the large intestine.
In the human excretory system, the large intestine is known to have a function that can be used to separate liquids, waste substances, and various food wastes that do not contain nutrients. This process itself can produce feces that will come out through the anus during bowel movements.
4. Skin
As previously stated, the human body sweats to cool down its temperature. This occurs when a person feels hot or is doing physical activity. Meanwhile, in the human excretory system, sweat has a function as a medium for removing waste substances and impurities from the body.
Sweat itself comes from glands in the dermis layer of the skin. Apart from being made of water, sweat is also known to contain various waste products from the body’s metabolic processes, including oil, sugar, salt, and so on. One of the residual substances in sweat comes from the process of breaking down proteins commonly called ammonia.
Basically, sweat glands are spread all over the body of humans. So, here are the two main types of sweat glands that you need to know about, including:
a. Eccrine glands, namely glands that produce sweat without protein and fat content. This gland turns out to be located in parts of the human body such as the hands, feet, to the forehead.
b. Apocrine glands, namely glands that produce sweat with protein and fat content. This type of gland is known to be located in certain parts of the body, such as the armpits and genitals.
5. Paru-paru
The human organ that functions as the last excretory system is the lungs. The lungs themselves have a very important role in the human respiratory and excretory systems. The lungs are known to be able to help get rid of waste substances which have a gaseous form consisting of carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, and several other exhaust gases.
Most of the carbon dioxide gas basically comes from the process of burning glucose which turns into energy. The process of burning glucose into energy itself begins when the intestine absorbs glucose from food that is being digested by humans. This is done by the blood by taking glucose from the intestine and then distributed throughout the body’s cells.
Inside the cells of the human body, a process of converting glucose into energy occurs with the help of oxygen (O2). Not only can form energy, this process can also produce several amounts of other waste substances, including CO2 gas. Gas carried by the blood will return to the lungs to be disposed of.
The blood itself contains CO2 which flows towards the small balloons in the lungs as a place for gas exchange or often called the alveoli. After successfully swapping places with O2. Furthermore, CO2 gas will come out of the body when someone exhales.
Therefore, living things should always be in a state of homeostasis. This is necessary for body functions to work normally. The purpose of a normal body itself is that the body temperature is always stable, the fluid balance is maintained, and the body is able to get rid of various residual substances that may be harmful.
If you can maintain the health of the five organs in the excretory system, then you will also facilitate the function of the five organs in eliminating all factors that have the potential to disturb the balance of the human body.
C. Disorders of the Human Excretory System
Like organs in the body in general, organs that have a duty as the excretory system can also experience interference. This is of course caused by infection by bacteria and viruses, overwork, or a lack of certain substances. So, here is a complete review of some of the disorders that can occur in the excretory system, including:
1. Diabetes Insipidus
Diabetes insipidus is a disorder of the excretory system that attacks one of the most important organs in the body, namely the kidneys. People with diabetes insipidus will usually pass too much urine. This is known because the body experiences a deficiency of the hormone ADH or Anti Diuretic Hormone. ADH itself is a type of hormone that can regulate the process of fluid reabsorption in the kidneys. This hormone deficiency can make a person’s urine amount increase even up to 30 times.
2. Kidney Stones
Not only diabetes insipidus, other disorders that can occur in the kidneys are kidney stones. Kidney stones themselves usually appear due to the formation of calcium salt deposits in the kidney cavities, renal tracts and bladder. This disorder is usually a crystal stone made of calcium oxalate, uric acid, and calcium phosphate crystals. In addition, please note that kidney stones cannot be dissolved.
Therefore, the most common cause of kidney stones is lack of water consumption in the body and excessive consumption of mineral salts. If this disorder is not treated as soon as possible, it may cause hydronephrosis or it can be interpreted as enlargement of the kidneys because urine cannot be wasted due to obstruction from kidney stones.
3. The urethra
Apart from the kidneys, organs that can experience interference with the excretory system are the ureters. The ureter itself is an organ that has a tube-like shape. The ureters are also known to have muscles that are used to help urine flow from the kidneys to the bladder.
One of the diseases that can attack the ureter is commonly called the urethra. Uretris can be interpreted as inflammation of the ureter that occurs due to bacterial or viral infection. For male and female sufferers have quite different symptoms. Urethral symptoms in men are usually marked by the presence of blood in the urine and semen. Not only that, when you urinate you will also feel a burning sensation. Meanwhile, urethral symptoms in women can be seen if you feel abdominal pain, pain when urinating, to fever.
4. Pneumonia
Apart from the kidneys, the lungs are also included in the organs that serve as excretion. The lungs themselves are known to be the place of exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. One disease that usually affects the lungs is pneumonia. Pneumonia itself is known to arise due to infection by bacteria, viruses, or fungi in the alveoli.
Disturbances in the lungs can cause a person to experience difficulty when trying to breathe or introduce oxygen to the body. This is because the alveoli as a place to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide are filled with fluid.
5. Asma
Still on disorders that often attack the lungs, namely Asthma. Asthma is a lung disorder that many people may be familiar with. Asthma itself appears due to narrowing of the airways in the lungs. Asthma sufferers will usually display symptoms of difficulty breathing and even tightness in the chest.
Asthma is a non-communicable disease, it’s just that this disease can be passed on to offspring. Someone who has asthma is often caused by an environment that has bad air. Therefore, the first way that needs to be done to treat someone who has an asthma attack is to give medicines to loosen the respiratory tract. Some of these drugs include injections (Hydrocortisone), ventolin syrup (Salbutamol), or nebulizers (Salbutamol gas).
Thus is the discussion of the function of the excretory system in humans. There are five human excretory systems, namely the kidneys, liver, large intestine, skin and lungs. By always maintaining the health of these five organs, you can have a healthy body.