Kidney Kidney The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood exits into the paired renal veins. Each kidney is attached to a ureter, a tube that carries excreted urine to the bladder. The nephron is the structural and functional unit of the kidney. Each adult kidney contains around 1 million nephrons. The nephron utilizes four processes to alter the blood plasma which flows to it: filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion. The
Urinary bladder (Chinese medicine) Urinary bladder (Chinese medicine) As distinct from the Western medical concept of Urinary bladder, this concept from Traditional Chinese Medicine is more a way of describing a set of interrelated functions than an anatomical organ. (See Zang Fu theory) The Bladder is a Yang (Fu) organ; its paired Yin (Zang) organ is the Kidney. Both are associated with the element of water and the emotion of fear. As opposed to western medicine, where the bladders function is the storage and excretion of urine, the bladder in Traditional Chinese Medicine has extended functions, including how fluids are transformed during urine production.