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KAEMPFEROL is a flavonoid found in
asparagus and many other plants. Kaempferol has been reported to increase bile
secretions on laboratory animals. Kaempferol has ultraviolet-absorbing
properties.
KETONE - a ketone is any of a large
class of organic compounds the carbonyl group, C=0, whose carbon atom is joined
to two other carbon atoms, that is, with the carbonyl group occurring within
the carbon chain.
Ketone bodies are produced as intermediate
products of fat metabolism. They are normally created in limited amounts when
fat is oxidized. However, in drastic conditions where carbohydrate is
insufficient or unavailable for energy needs such as starvation or untreated
diabetes, excessive amounts of fat are oxidized and ketone bodies accumulate.
This condition is known as ketosis.
KIDNEYS - The kidney is an organ
whose functional unit is the nephron. There are about one million nephrons per
kidney. Each nephron is normally connected to a collecting duct housed in the
adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex. The nephron is composed of three important
areas: the glomerulus capsule, loop of hemle, and distal tube.
The glomerulus capsule surrounds a
glomerulus connected to the renal artery. Blood plasma filters through thin
walls of a capillary, some of which the glomerulus capsule absorbs. The rest is
drained into the renal artery. In this manner, all the blood of the body flows
through the kidney about once every five minutes.
The filtrate consists of water and a
nonprotein solute (sodium, potassium, chloride, glucose, and urea). As the
filtrate moves into the loop of hemle, a large portion of the filtrate is
resorbed.
The filtrate then passes into the distal
tubes and the collecting duct, which are strongly influenced by hormones. These
structures concentrate the filtrate further so that only 1% of the original
filtrate volume is passed to the bladder via the ureters in the form of
urine.
KILOCALORIE is a unit of measurement
used in metabolic studies, being the amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius at a pressure of 1
atmosphere. It is 1,000 times larger than the small calorie used in chemistry
and physics. The term is used in nutrition to express the fuel or energy value
of food.
KISSING: A means of getting two
people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each
other.
KREBS CYCLE (citric acid cycle)
refers to a complicated series of reactions by which fragments from any of the
energy nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) are completely broken down
to carbon dioxide and water, releasing energy for the formation of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). It is the final common pathway for all nutrient metabolites
involved in energy production, and provides more than 90% of the body's
energy.
KWASHIORKOR , malignant malnutrition,
is a disease resulting from a protein deficiency particularly in infancy.
Kwashiorkor can result when inadequate protein is made available to an infant
after weaning. Adult kwashiorkor is usually linked with diseases such as
chronic malabsorption or infection. It is also seen in lactating women.
Kwashiorkor is characterized by anemia, edema, pot belly, depigmentation of the
skin, loss or change in hair color, marked hypoalbuminemia, and bulky stools
containing undigested food. Fatty changes in the cells of the liver, atrophy of
the acinar cells of the pancreas, and hyalinization of the renal goleruli are
found post mortem. The term is thought by some to mean "red boy", by others
"displaced child." |
