The Story of Kidneys

A few days earlier I was browsing through the internet searching for Apple’s news; its latest products and developments, along with the free apps of the day. In my search, a shocking news sends shivers down my spine. A boy, by the surname of Wang, sold his kidney for an iPhone and iPad 2. But that was not the end of it. What was more shocking was that the kidney was sold at around US$3000 (some said it’s US$3500 – AppAdvice). That's roughly around RM9800!

The report can be read by clicking here.

The first time I heard the news last year, I simply let it slipped off my mind:

“Technology. Imagine what humans would do to have state-of-the-art technology. Anything’s possible.”

That was what I thought.

Disclaimer

Now, before I proceed I have to make a disclaimer. This news is nowhere near the territory of truth as I cannot confirmed its authenticity from the primary source but nonetheless, this news should spark a rigorous discussion regarding organs selling:

“Would you selling your organs for the sake of this world?”

Clinical Years

As a medical student who had just started his clinical years (where most of the time will be spent in the hospital; learning, gaining and refining the clinical skills required to be a great doctor, by the will of Allah), I had learnt a lot this year. In the last couple of weeks, I had been with the renal team for my renal rotation. (This rotation deals with the kidney, its diseases and that lot).

In the last day of this rotation, I was sitting with a renal specialist in the post-op renal transplant clinic (where patients come to see the doctor to review the kidney transplantation that they had), observing and learning.

A conversation with the specialist regarding the uniqueness of our kidneys made me realize that I have taken my kidneys for granted.Our conversation changed my idea on organs selling. How ignorant was I before this. Selling your kidney for technology? Man, why do I even think that’s possible?

The Kidneys

In essence, our kidneys (each with roughly the size of our fist) have 4 major function:

1. They filter our blood, removing harmful wastes from our body.
2. They regulate our blood pressure, acid-base balance, water and electrolytes.

Other than that, the kidneys are also important in the secretion, metabolism and excretion of hormones, along with the production of glucose.

Now, given this list, we can easily see that the kidneys are really important in maintaining a healthy life.

Now that we have a little bit of an understanding of what the kidneys do, the next sensible question would be:

“What will happen if I lose my kidneys?”

Dialysis - Our Solution

vs.

      Illustration - Dialysis machine (left) vs. the original kidney (right)

If a kidney fails, the other one can cover up for you. But if both of your kidneys fail, you will have to either replace it with a new one or be put on a dialysis machine in order to survive; the latter one being the easiest and thus a more common option. In the dialysis process, the person will be hooked up to a machine and blood will be filtered by that machine (i.e. acts as an artificial kidney).

But (as the specialist commented),

“Well obviously, dialysis can never fully replace the functions of the kidneys. The kidneys continuously filter the blood but with the dialysis machine, you could only do that 3-4 hours per day.”

No humans, and long as the history goes, are able to create something so small in size yet supremely efficient, working silently in the background of a human life, filtering our body fluids.

It’s amazing to think how Allah Azza Wajjal is able to make the kidneys with such precision, efficiency and efficacy.

I just realized I had taken my kidney for granted all this while. But I guess it is not surprising if this is the case for most people. The kidneys just sit quietly on the lower part of our tummy, doing its jobs efficiently and silently. It is not hard to miss the big roles they play.

Compared to the bulky and noisy dialysis machine, the kidneys are so small and quiet. They do not cause any side effects as the dialysis would, and they didn't cause any grumpiness and fatigue to the patients as the dialysis machine would.

Furthermore, the machine will force you to stay immobile besides it for 3-4 hours per day, but a normal, functioning kidney would never impede our busy life.

In retrospect, I never really appreciate the importance of our kidneys. Sure, they are there, doing something important, but it is not until I see it with my own eyes the consequences of losing the kidneys that I firmly believe and appreciate them.

So ladies and gentlemen, I guess the take home message is that our kidneys are doing an amazing job to keep us alive. We should appreciate this amazing gift and reciprocate their service by making sure that we are taking good care of our health. Drink a lot of plain water and avoid harmful substances that can deteriorate them.

What have you done to keep your kidneys and body healthy?

This article is written by Muhammad Nassier, a fourth year medical student at Monash University, Australia.