The kidneys are two amazing bean-shaped organs that do essential tasks to keep the body functional and organized.
The kidneys are located behind the bottom of the ribcage. Every organ in the body is essential but the kidney performs multiple tasks and if they somehow begin to fail the body will cease to function properly and eventually, shut down.
It has been estimated that 36 million people suffer from kidney disease in America alone.
Kidney disease is a growing concern and a large number of people live with it without knowing they have it.
The major function of the kidney is to remove wastes and excess fluid from the body and pass it out as urine.
There are times you drink a lot of water and begin to frequent the bathroom afterward; that’s your kidney removing the excesses. If your kidney is unable to maintain a healthy balance of water in the body, it will damage the kidneys and the renal system.
Because the kidneys are essential organs, it is important to know how to protect them and early signs of kidney damage.
Today, March 11, 2021, is World Kidney Day, usually use to create awareness on kidney diseases and how to avoid it.
Kidney disease is a very expensive illness to have, most people require donations and financial assistance to survive a kidney disease. most of the time it can be managed with regular dialysis but some other times a transplant is required and the list of people awaiting a donor is so long that some kidney patients don’t survive receiving a transplant.
According to PMC, chronic kidney disease, CKD, will be the 5th leading cause of Years of Life Lost in 2040. Indeed, in 2010, 2.6 million people with end-stage kidney disease, ESKD, or ‘kidney failure’ received dialysis or transplantation worldwide; this number is projected to increase to 5.4 million by 2030. This is why it is so important to advocate and raise awareness of kidney health.
There is a list of functions that the kidney performs. They include:
· Maintaining water and fluid in the body
· Filtering and removing toxins/minerals from the blood
· It also controls blood pressure
· The kidney filters waste from food, medication, and other substances.
· Keeps the bones strong and healthy
Every human has two kidneys but it is said that the body can also work with just one kidney. People with a single working kidney need to be careful and eat less protein because the kidney will not be able to process it as usual and regular bombardment will only cause the single kidney to fail.
Kidney failure begins when your body loses its ability to properly remove wastes and excess fluid, especially through urine. The kidney works with other organs like the urethra, bladder, and ureters to get fluid out of the body.
Several things can cause kidney failure like high blood pressure, excessive use of pain medication (anti-inflammatory drugs), untreated infections, diabetes, people above 60 years of age, etc.
Symptoms of kidney failure
As always, early detection saves lives and makes treatment easy. Here are some signs of early kidney disease that are reversible at the early stages.
Fatigue and unusual tiredness: anaemia is a complication in kidney disease that causes weakness and fatigue,
Insomnia: when the kidneys don’t filter the blood and get rid of toxins through urine, those toxins stay in the blood and make sleeping very difficult.
Itchy skin and rash: if you have excess water in the body, you will end up with skin rash because the kidney cannot remove the uremic toxin from your body. the rash may begin from the feet and extend up to your forehead and ears.
Frequent urination especially getting up in the middle of the night is an early sign but the volume of the urine will begin to drop as the disease progresses
Foamy urine: when your urine looks like beer was poured into the toilet, this is a sign of excess protein in the urine. the presence of protein is a sign of kidney failure.
Swelling legs: the kidney is responsible for getting excess fluid out of the body, if it no longer functions optimally the body will begin to retain fluid and the legs are the first place it shows.
Unintentional weight loss of appetite may be due to some other illnesses but when this persists and results in weight loss, you should seek medical help
Unpleasant breath: This does not mean everyone with bad breath has kidney disease. Bad breath in kidney failure is also called halitosis and it is a result of built-up urea in the bloodstream, urea is supposed to be filtered out by a functional kidney.
Takeaway
There are five stages of kidney failure, the first three stages are manageable and reversible; the fourth and fifth stages require dialysis and transplant.
Living with Kidney disease requires major lifestyle changes especially, the kind of food choices. Wouldn’t you love to know if you are at risk or already have early signs before the kidney damages?
To maintain a healthy kidney, you need to drink a lot of water, exercise, eat a healthy diet, monitor your blood pressure, reduce painkillers and over-the-counter drugs (NSAIDs) and control your blood sugar level. World Kidney Day helps create awareness and strives for kidney health for everyone. So, save someone from chronic kidney disease by sharing this article with the share buttons below.