Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney failure, entails a slow loss of kidney function. Your kidneys filtrate waste and overabundance of fluids out of your blood, which in turn are removed through your urine. Progressive chronic kidney disease could cause risky levels of fluid, electrolytes and waste to accumulate in your body.
In the initial phases of chronic kidney disease, you may notice a couple of symptoms or signs. You might not be aware that you have this disease until the ailment is progressive.
Treatments for chronic kidney disease focus on slowing the advancement of kidney damage, typically by managing the cause. However, even managing the cause might not keep kidney damage from advancing. This disease can develop to end-phase kidney failure, which is deadly without man-made filtering (dialysis) or a new kidney.
Symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease
Symptoms and signs of chronic kidney disease advance over time if kidney damage advances at a slower rate. Kidney function loss can cause a buildup of fluids or bodily waste or electrolyte issues. Subject to how serious it is, loss of kidney function may be the cause of:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Appetite loss
- Fatigue and frailty
- Sleeping issues
- Going to the bathroom more or less
- Decreased mental sharpness
- Muscle spasms
- Swelling of feet and ankles
- Itchy, dry skin
- High blood pressure (hypertension) that’s challenging to control
- Shortness of breath, when fluid builds up in the lungs
- Chest pain, when fluid builds up around the hearts lining
Symptoms and signs of kidney disease are usually indeterminate. Meaning they can also be caused by other illnesses. Since your kidneys can make up for lost functionality, you might not develop symptoms and signs until irreversible damage has happened.
When To See Your Medical Practitioner
Make an appointment with your medical practitioner if you have symptoms or signs of kidney disease. Pre-diagnosis might assist in preventing kidney disease from advancing to kidney failure.
If you have a medical disorder that increases your risk of kidney disease, your medical practitioner may oversee your kidney function and blood pressure with urine and blood tests during office appointments. Ask your medical practitioner whether these tests are required for you.
Prevention of Chronic Kidney Disease
To decrease your risk of developing kidney disease:
- Adhere to instructions on OTC medications. When using non-prescription pain relievers, like acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen adhere to the instructions on the package. Taking excessive pain relievers for a long period could result in kidney damage.
- Sustain a healthy weight. When you are at a healthy weight, sustain it by becoming physically active a lot of days of the week. When you are required to lose weight, speak with your medical practitioner concerning approaches for healthy weight loss.
- Don’t smoke. Smoking cigarettes can damage your kidneys and make current kidney damage even worse. When you are a smoker, speak to your medical practitioner concerning approaches for quitting. Support groups, therapy and medications can all aid you in quitting.
- Oversee your medical ailments with your medical practitioner’s assistance. When you have diseases or ailments that escalate your risk of kidney disease, collaborate with your medical practitioner to manage them. Ask your medical practitioner concerning tests to look for symptoms of kidney damage.
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