Monday, Oct 3, 2005
Kidney Failure And It's Symptoms
Chandni Srinivasan
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The kidneys remove wastes and extra water from the blood to form urine. Urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through the ureters.
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The kidneys are two bean shaped organs about five inches long, three inches wide and one inch thick. It is located on the spine, each side below the ribs. Inside the kidney are nephrons which are tiny units for the purpose of filtering. It has between 1.0 to 1.3 million nephrons. The nephrons contain glomerulus and tubules. It contains capillaries where water and small particles are filtered from blood and urine.
The waste, extra fluids travel through the tube like structures where several processes take place to turn fluids into urine. Then it passes through the collecting duct and renal pelvis. The ureter carries urine into the bladder and passes it out of the body.
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The basic function of the kidney begins when you eat and drink. Once the nutrients are absorbed by the body, the extra becomes waste and it is filtered out. The kidneys represent 0.5% of the total body fat. THEY WORK 24 HOURS A DAY AND SEVEN DAYS A WEEK!
Early symptoms of kidney disease include metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, high blood pressure, difficulty in breathing and concentration, back pain, blood in urine, swelling in feet and ankles and puffiness in the eyes.
The factors that affect the kidney are:
a. Drugs that are available over the counter,and taken in overdose wihtout the
prescription of the medical practioner.
b. Persons with diabetes and high blood pressure are at a greater risk of renal failure. Such persons have to be monitored.
c. Untreated kidney stone or cysts.
Important symptoms of the disease are
a. Blood in urine.
b. Low back pain or pain in the abdomen.
c. Burning or difficulty in urinating.
d. Swelling in the feet and ankles and puffy eyes.
if any one or more of these symptoms persist one must contact the nephrologist to prevent
further damage of the kidney. There are several blood tests to rule out the functions of the kidney, which will be advised by your doctor.
Chronic stage of the disease:
Kidneys do not fail at once. Their progress is slow over the years. If diaognised early medication and changes in life stlye can slow down or even stop chronic disease depending on the cause.
In this stage a patient is put on dialysis. Dialysis is a treatment used to remove waste materials from the blood of the patients having acute renal failure. This is the final stage of the treatment. Dialysis is recommended by the doctors depending on the stage of the disease.
A single kidney is adequate and capable of functioning, equal to that of two. When both kidneys fail, it affects the heart and lungs and this stage is called END STAGE RENAL DISEASE, which is a danger to the life of the patient.
A patient that I have known closely had been ignoring the symptoms of the disease like high blood pressure. It was diagnosed through an MRI that there was a tumour in the kidney. The tests showed it was malignant. It was too late and had to have the kidney removed on an emergency. Radiation was recommended. Its called renal cell carcinoma. The causes of the disease are unknown and it is said to be the fastest spreading type of cancer if not detected early.
If any one or more of these symptoms persist, contact the nephrologist immediately to help control the disease for a better living.
Ways to prevent the disease
a. Drink plenty of fluids.
b. Avoid over the counter drugs. Some over-the-counter medicines can be poisonous to your kidneys if taken regularly over a long period of time. Products that combine aspirin, acetaminophen, and other medicines such as ibuprofen have been found to be the most dangerous to the kidneys.
c. Avoid high sodium diet. Sodium is found in salts and other foods. High sodium in your diet may raise your blood pressure. High blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in your kidneys. The damaged vessels cannot filter wastes from your blood as they are supposed to.
d.Some tests can help find the early stage of the disease are;
- Total blood count to evaluate infection in the body
- Urine analysis
- Serum creatinine
- Blood urea and nitrogen
- Protein in urine.
other tests are recommended depending on the symtoms.
Diet is decided according to the severity of the disease of the patient.
GOOD HEALTH AND DIET HELPS TO PREVENT ALL DISEASES!
Graphic courtesy http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/index.htm
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