What Do Kidneys Do?

Your kidneys are amazing organs made up of tiny blood vessels grouped into filtering units. They work 24 hours a day to:

•  Filter waste and fluid from your blood in the form of urine
•  Keep minerals in balance so your body can function
•  Release hormones (chemical messengers) that affect calcium balance and bone health, blood pressure, and anemia

Watch Kidney 101, an animated video about how your kidneys work.

Read more: How kidneys work

Northwest Kidney Centers keeps people in the Seattle area alive with dialysis care, educates the public about kidney health, and collaborates with UW Medicine in the Kidney Research Institute. We are one of very few community-based, nonprofit dialysis providers in the country. Founded in 1962, ours was the first out-of-hospital dialysis program in the world and it is still a model in the field.