When medical science diagnoses kidney insufficiency or kidney failure, it’s often imagined as if the kidney were a kind of “pasta strainer” whose holes become clogged over time, due to improper use, infection, or another disease. This leads to the accumulation of toxins in the body and a reduction—or eventual cessation—of urine output.
While the kidney’s primary function is indeed the continuous filtration of blood, the various germ-layer-derived tissues within the organ support our functioning in different ways and respond differently to environmental changes or the demands arising from such changes.
The kidney’s connective tissues handle the continuous filtration of blood, while the glandular tissues manage water reabsorption and regulate urine release, and the epithelial tissues facilitate the excretion of filtered urine.
This means the kidney can reduce or halt urine output without stopping blood filtration.
But why would this be necessary?
To understand this, we must recognize that water is a vital element for us. Without a continuous supply of fluids, we would dehydrate within about a week. In our modern world, this is unlikely, but it could happen in an environment far from civilization. The timeframe would be significantly shorter if, for instance, we suddenly found ourselves in a desert.
In nature, the master of water retention is the camel.
The camel has long adapted to extreme desert conditions.
It’s well-known that its feces are so dry they can be used as fuel (thanks to a long, thick large intestine). Similarly, its kidneys have evolved for enhanced water retention. To produce highly concentrated urine, the camel developed a kidney with a Henle’s loop three times longer than that of similar-sized mammals living in less extreme conditions, along with a thicker collecting duct and a denser vascular network. This allows it to lose only the absolute minimum amount of fluid necessary.
Under normal conditions—when water is available—the camel urinates once a day. But in desert conditions, it can retain urine for days to maintain homeostasis, preserving the body’s proper fluid balance for as long as possible to function optimally, increasing its chances of surviving extreme conditions until it reaches the next oasis.
Humans also possess these abilities. Just like the camel, when we enter a dehydration-risk state, the glandular tissue of our kidneys immediately responds, and the collecting ducts simply close, preventing fluid release until we access water again.
The difference is that we perceive other things as vital to our existence beyond water. When the “source” of these essentials dries up, we experience the same state of “dehydration fear” or “being stranded.”
Thus, if we feel that in a given environment or situation, any provision or care critical to our survival (material, financial, emotional, medical, intellectual, solution-based, etc.) provided by Mother Nature ceases or falters, leaving us at the mercy of fate, we simply “close the drain” to hold out as long as possible and increase our chances of finding an “oasis.”
Examples include when a financial source dries up in our lives, making us feel stranded,
when a solution or knowledge source tied to a situation is exhausted, when "the well of ideas has run dry",
or when a source of love or care from a loved one or our environment, which we could draw strength from, ceases.
or when a source of love or care from a loved one or our environment, which we could draw strength from, ceases.
A typical setting for this conflict is healthcare.
Firstly, we’re conditioned to visit a doctor whenever something’s wrong, expecting them to fix it. If the doctor is at a loss, offering only a helpless shrug, we panic, thinking, “Who else can help if even they can’t?”
Secondly, if we’re used to solving our problems independently but are forced to rely on medical care, we feel vulnerable.
Or, if a diagnosis makes us fear how we’ll provide for our family or who will care for us if we become dependent.
Secondly, if we’re used to solving our problems independently but are forced to rely on medical care, we feel vulnerable.
Or, if a diagnosis makes us fear how we’ll provide for our family or who will care for us if we become dependent.
Depending on the intensity of the emotions or the needs arising within us, the kidney’s glandular tissue can fully or partially influence urine passage. (It can also produce more tissue capable of reabsorption through glandular proliferation.) As a result, the body begins to retain water reserves, manifesting as generalized fluid retention.
A condition affecting the kidney’s collecting ducts alone shouldn’t be dangerous. However, in combination with other conditions, it can cause issues. Increased water retention amplifies other regenerative edemas, worsening related symptoms and causing additional pain or complications.
Therefore, efforts should always be made to resolve the “stranded” conflict as quickly as possible and avoid exacerbating prolonged collecting duct blockages with infusions or medications that suppress the sympathetic state.
As soon as our “dehydration fear” or “stranded” state subsides, the collecting ducts become permeable almost immediately, and urine release resumes.
This is one way we know our kidneys haven’t “failed” or need a “filter replacement.” Instead, we need to resolve our conflicts.
Our organs function in harmony and synchrony with our emotional needs and necessities.
Our organs function in harmony and synchrony with our emotional needs and necessities.
This text does not aim to be comprehensive; it touches on only part of the topic and serves to understand the biological processes occurring within us and the nature of conflicts. Every person’s life and life path are unique, so the specific triggers should be examined individually, based on the events experienced. How someone copes with their conflicts varies from person to person, and different areas are handled differently depending on the amount of negative experiences or failures accumulated there. Exploring a conflict does not replace medical care.
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