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Mediocrasleep t1_j9q65al wrote

Short of imagining, we do not know which kidney is failing. We can see the overall renal health. If it declines, it will prompt some imagining studies (ie. US, CT).

Why no duplicate? Every organ consumes energy. Imagine if your trunk of your body was twice as big… you need to increase caloric intake and it would make you less mobile. The disadvantage > advantage

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FineLetMeSayIt OP t1_j9qbuaf wrote

But if overall renal health was declining that would mean both kidneys are in jeopardy by then right? The organ energy consumption reasoning makes sense. I wonder why nature chose kidneys as the organ to double up on though. Thanks for the reply!

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Mediocrasleep t1_j9qckpi wrote

If one kidney suddenly fails, the other kidney usually cannot compensate in time, so labs will show abnormalities. Though even with one healthy kidney, some labs are still abnormal.

But yes, a lot of times, the injuried to the kidneys are happening at the same time (hypotension, drug reactions)

Kidneys are more sensitive to damages and are smaller than other organs as well. On average.

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fastspinecho t1_j9st4zm wrote

You have two lungs, two liver lobes, two parotid glands, two thyroid lobes, two eyes, two ears, two arms, two thumbs, two legs, two cerebral hemispheres, two gonads, two breasts, etc.

Sometimes the "doubled" organs are so close together that they are considered one (liver, thyroid, brain ...). But that's just developmental happenstance. In some people, the left and right kidneys are combined into one giant "horseshoe" kidney.

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McHildinger t1_j9rppjj wrote

I was told that the kidneys are somehow related/associated with the ovaries/testis in a fetus, and that is why there are likely two kidneys; people born with only one kidney often only have one functional gonad.

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