Kidneys are pair of vital organs in your body that is responsible for purifying the blood by filtering the waste products from it. It also helps in regulating blood pressure and in maintaining electrolyte balance in the body. They are small bean shaped organs found below the abdomen at the back of your body, just below the spine. If the kidneys do not function properly, it leads to accumulation of waste products in the blood causing various complications.
There are sensors present in the kidney that controls the output of urine from the body. Kidney would efficiently retain water when the person is in dehydrated condition. On normal conditions, the urine will be very dilute and clear. Kidneys are in charge of stimulating the production of red blood cells in the body and it also controls the volume of oxygen to be present in blood. There are many causes for kidney failure and some can be fully treated. But in some cases kidney failure cannot be reversed. Keeping the blood sugar level and blood pressure in control can help in preventing kidney failure.
Kidney Failure Symptoms :
If there is an excess amount of waste products in the blood due to improper functioning of kidney or kidney failure, it can produce symptoms like shortness of breath, reduced urine output, building up of body fluids resulting in swelling of legs, extreme tiredness, confusion, and nausea and chest pain. In rare cases it can cause seizures and even coma due to kidney failure. However in some cases kidney failure may not show any symptoms and will be detected during tests done for other illness.
Kidney Failure Causes and Types :
Kidney failure can be acute (fast and sudden) or chronic (slow occurring as a process). Kidney failure can occur due to other complications in the body or due to damage to the kidneys. Acute kidney failure can develop due to reduced blood flow to the kidney. This can occur due to hypovolemia (reduction in total blood volume), loss of bodily fluids leading to sudden dehydration (can be caused by diarrhea and vomiting), insufficient intake of fluids, and taking diuretic drugs for long term (which causes loss of water).
Acute kidney failure can occur due to sudden heart attack, stroke, heart disease and liver failure. This can directly reduce the blood flow to the kidneys. Sometimes damage done to the kidney can cause kidney failure. Examples of such case include sepsis (when the immunity of the body gets hampered due to severe infection), intake of certain drugs like NSAIDs (Brufen or naproxen) antibiotics (garamycin) and lithium can cause toxicity in kidney leading to kidney failure. Kidney can get affected directly due to multiple myeloma (cancer affecting plasma cells), certain types of blood disorders, heavy toxic substances like cocaine and heavy metals, and inflammation of blood vessels.
If there is considerable muscle loss in the body due to trauma or injury like burns it can lead to clogging of muscle fiber in the kidney affecting the filtering ability of the kidney. Certain diseases like systemic lupus and granulomatosis and alter the normal filtering capacity of kidneys. Post renal causes of kidney failure can affect the body’s output of urine. When normal output of urine gets affected due to certain conditions it can cause acute kidney failure.
Reasons include block in the bladder/ureter (a tube that carries urine), prostatic hypertrophy (prostate cancer), any tumor in the ureter region, formation of kidney stones. This can affect the normal outflow of urine leading to accumulation of toxic materials in the kidney. Chronic kidney failure is one that develops slowly as a process. It might take months or sometimes years for the failure to progress. Some of the underlying causes include prolonged diabetes and blood pressure that is not managed properly, reflux nephropathy, prostate disease and development of cyst in kidneys.
Who Are At Risk?