Figure
34.1
The renal and urinary system filters out excess fluid and eliminates urea from the body, helping body chemicals stay in balance. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)
Chapter Outline
Introduction
Diuretic therapy is used to increase urinary output for the treatment of edematous conditions, hypertension, heart failure, liver failure, acute and chronic renal diseases, and nephrotic syndrome. There are four groups of diuretics: loop, osmotic, potassium-sparing, and thiazide/thiazide-like. Each targets a specific area of the nephron, resulting in the inhibition of sodium and water reabsorption.