Posts Tagged ‘ Kidney Disease ’

Keeping Your Kidneys Healthy

Wednesday, March 9th, 2022

Over 80 lakh Indians are suffering from chronic kidney diseases (CKD) . Are you one of them? CKD affects about one in every three persons with diabetes and one in every five adults with high blood pressure around the world. Apart from diabetes and high blood pressure, heart illness, obesity, and a family history of kidney disease are also factors that increase your risk of kidney disease.

Importance of Kidneys

The primary function of your kidneys is to eliminate waste materials and excess fluid from the body. The urine helps removes these waste materials as well as excess fluid. This process is required to maintain a steady chemical equilibrium in the body. Your kidneys perform these essential functions:

  • Remove waste products from the body.
  • Remove drugs from the body.
  • Balance the body’s fluids.
  • Release hormones that regulate blood pressure.
  • Produce an active form of vitamin D.
  • Control the production of red blood cells.

What is Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a gradual decline in kidney function over a period of months or years. There are around a million small filters called nephrons in each of your kidneys. The kidneys perform the crucial job of filtering and returning to the bloodstream about 200 quarts of fluid every 24 hours.

If your nephrons are damaged, more and more of them shut down, and cannot filter your blood effectively enough to stay healthy. Kidney failure occurs when your kidney function falls below a particular threshold. Kidney failure has a wide-ranging effect on your body and can make you very unwell. Kidney failure that goes untreated can be fatal. If your kidneys fail, your blood must be filtered multiple times a week (dialysis treatments). You might require a kidney transplant as well in some cases.

Symptoms of Kidney Disease

Each person may show different symptoms of kidney disease. You must consult your doctor for further diagnosis and testing if you notice any of the below signs:

  • Fatigue.
  • Itchiness all over the body.
  • Blood in the urine.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Nausea and vomiting.
  • Puffiness around the eyes
  • Muscle cramps.

Protect Your Kidneys

Kidney disease are known to occur silently and impact your quality of life. Here are a few healthy ways to reduce the risk of developing kidney disease:

  • Stay active
    Exercising regularly can help maintain an ideal body weight, reduce your blood pressure and the risk of kidney disease.
  • Eat a healthy diet
    Eating a well-balanced diet can help maintain an ideal body weight, reduce your blood pressure, prevent diabetes, heart ailments and other conditions associated with kidney disease. Reduce your salt intake and avoid consumption of processed foods.
  • Control your blood sugar
    More than half of the diabetics remain unaware of their condition. Kidney impairment affects around half of all diabetics, although it can be avoided with appropriate precautions.
  • Control your blood pressure
    About half of the people who have high blood pressure do not know about this. This condition is known as a silent killer that can damage your kidneys.
  • Take appropriate fluid intake
    The right level of fluid intake for any individual changes depending on many factors including exercise, climate, health conditions, pregnancy and breastfeeding. Most individuals require 8 cups, approximately 2 liters of water per day. Your fluid intake may have to be adjusted if you have kidney or heart or liver disease.
  • Don’t smoke
    Smoking clogs the blood vessels and slows the flow of blood to the kidneys. When the kidneys receive less blood, their capacity to operate normally is harmed. In addition, smoking raises the risk of kidney cancer by around 50%.
  • Avoid overuse and misuse of painkillers
    Common drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS)/ pain-killers can harm the kidneys if taken regularly. Do not self-prescribe medications, always consult a doctor before taking a painkiller.

Treatment for Kidney disease at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital

If Chronic Kidney Disease is detected early and managed appropriately, the deterioration in kidney function can be slowed or even stopped, and the risk of associated complications can be reduced. Consult our highly trained team of doctors for prompt diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease. We have one of Mumbai’s largest dialysis unit, with the latest technology, that provides compassionate care to all the patients. Our dedicated transplant ward offers the best post-transplant care and has performed over 185 life-saving kidney transplant surgeries. Please find below our website for further details:

https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/clinicaldepartments/nephrology.html

Kidneys – Your Natural Detox System

Wednesday, March 13th, 2019

Kidney disease can affect your body’s ability to filter wastes and toxins from the blood, regulate body fluids and help control your blood pressure. It can also affect red blood cell production and vitamin D metabolism needed for bone health. Your kidneys maintain the blood minerals in balance – sodium, potassium, phosphorous. You’re born with two kidneys. They’re on either side of your spine, just above your waist. When your kidneys are damaged, waste products and fluid can build up in your body. Without treatment, the damage can get worse and your kidneys may eventually stop working. This is a serious medical condition and can be life-threatening.

Symptoms of Kidney Disease:
  • Fatigue.
  • Feeling cold when others are warm.
  • Shortness of breath.
  • Feeling faint dizzy or weak.
  • Feeling very itchy.
  • Swelling in hands or feet.
  • Swollen or puffy face.
  • Upset stomach, nausea and vomiting.
  • Urinate more often at night time.
  • Foamy or bubbly urine.
  • Brown, red or couple urine.
  • Feel pressure or have difficulty urinating.

Kidney disease is broadly classified into acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. Know more about them below:

Acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury is sudden damage to the kidneys. In many cases, it will be short term but in some people, it may lead to long-term chronic kidney disease.

The main causes are:

  • Damage to the actual kidney tissue caused by a drug, severe infection or radioactive dye.
  • Obstruction to urine leaving the kidney (for example because of kidney stones or an enlarged prostate).

People who have chronic kidney disease are also at increased risk of acute kidney injury.

Chronic kidney disease

More often, kidney function worsens over a number of years. This is known as chronic kidney disease. Sometimes it can progress to end-stage kidney disease (also known as kidney failure), which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to keep you alive.

There are different causes of chronic kidney disease, the key ones being:

  • Damaged blood vessels to the kidneys due to high blood pressure and diabetes.
  • Attacks on the kidney tissue by disease or the immune system (glomerulonephritis).
  • The growth of cysts on the kidneys (polycystic kidney disease).
  • Damage due to the backward flow of urine into the kidneys (reflux nephropathy).
  • Congenital abnormalities of the kidney or urinary tract.
Prevent kidney diseases:

Here are a few steps to follow in daily life to prevent non-hereditary kidney diseases:

  • Lower high blood pressure
  • Reduce salt intake.
  • Avoid unnecessary painkiller.
  • Keep your blood sugar levels under control if diabetic.
  • Exercise regularly.
  • Control your weight.
  • Follow a balanced diet.
  • Quit smoking.
  • Drink in moderation.
  • Stay hydrated.
  • Monitor cholesterol levels.
  • Get an annual health checkup done.
  • Know your family medical history.

Untreated and ignored kidney diseases can lead to many health complications. It can highly increase your risk of getting heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, nerve damage, weak bones, kidney failure and may even lead to death.

Kidney Failure

Kidney failure occurs when your kidneys lose the ability to filter waste from your blood sufficiently. Many factors can interfere with your kidney health and function, such as:

  • Toxic exposure to environmental pollutants or certain medications.
  • Certain acute and chronic diseases.
  • Severe dehydration.
  • Kidney trauma.

Your body becomes overloaded with toxins if your kidneys can’t do their regular job. This can lead to kidney failure and even be life-threatening if it’s left untreated.

Kidney Dialysis

People with failed or damaged kidneys may have difficulty eliminating waste and unwanted water from the blood. Dialysis is an artificial way of carrying out this process. Dialysis substitutes the natural work of the kidneys, so it is also known as renal replacement therapy (RRT). Healthy kidneys regulate the body’s levels of water and minerals and remove waste. The kidneys also secrete certain products that are important in metabolism, but dialysis cannot do this. A person who has lost 85 to 90 per cent of their kidney function will be a likely candidate for dialysis.

Kidney Transplant

When you get a kidney transplant, a healthy kidney is placed inside your body to do the work your own kidneys can no longer do. Your health and energy improve after a transplant. A successful kidney transplant may allow you to live the kind of life you were living before you got kidney disease. Availability of a matching donor is the main criteria for a kidney transplant. However infection and rejection of the donated kidney are major risk factors of a kidney transplant.

Consult our Department of Nephrology for your kidney disease. Please find below link for more details:

https://www.kokilabenhospital.com/departments/clinicaldepartments/nephrology.html