Kidney Diseases – Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Kidney disease basically means that your kidney is not working properly and is at the beginning stage of losing its function. Chronic kidney disease can get worse over time and needs to be treated as soon as you get to know about the situation.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are two common causes of chronic kidney disease. It can’t be cured completely but can preserve functions for a long period of time.

What is kidney disease?

Kidney disease means that there is something wrong with your kidneys, as they are not working as they should work for your body. Basically, kidney disease affects the kidney’s ability to filter water from blood, clean out your blood and control blood pressure.

They also help the body with other functions like red blood cell health and vitamin D metabolism, which is needed for bone health. When your kidney can not work properly, it can’t filter waste, which further builds up the remaining waste in your blood.

People are born with two kidneys, and they are located on the side of spine, just above your waist. However, kidney disease is also known as “chronic kidney disease” as kidney’s function slowly decrease over the time.

If chronic kidney disease is not treated properly it can lead to kidney failure, also the end-stage of kidney disease. However, there are treatment options for kidney failure like dialysis or kidney transplant.

Kidney functions

A healthy kidney works amazing for your body and better growth. Here are some of the functions a healthy kidney performs in the human body:

• Remove all the toxins and waste from your blood through urine.
• Keep a balanced level of electrolytes, minerals and water in your body.
• Help your body in making an active form of vitamin D for bone health and other body functions.
• Help in managing blood pressure.
• In every 30 minutes, filter all the blood in your body.

What causes kidney disease?

Chronic kidney disease occurs when a condition or a disease damages your kidney’s function. These happen over the years, whereas high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus are the most common causes of kidney disease.

Conditions or diseases that can affect the kidney and cause chronic kidney disease include:

• When there is not a proper blood flow to the kidney.
• Direct injury that affects your kidney.
• Glomerulonephritis: A condition in which an inflammation happens to the filtering units of the kidney.
• Interstitial nephritis: inflammation happens in the tubules and surrounding structures in the kidney.
• Vesicoureteral: In this, your urine flows back into your kidneys through ureters.
• Polycystic kidney disease: This is a genetic condition in which many fluid-filled cysts star to grow in the kidney and damage the kidney’s function.
• Recurrent kidney infection: It is also known as pyelonephritis.
• Prolonged obstruction: A condition that blocks the urinary tract because of conditions like kidney stones, enlarged prostate or some chronic disease.
• Drugs and toxic substances: Your kidney function can be affected by the consumption of certain drugs or toxic substances.

What are the symptoms of kidney disease?

Kidney disease may not show instant signs but will affect your body over time and will show symptoms when it gets worse.

Some of the symptoms are listed below:

• High blood pressure
• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting
• A metallic taste in your mouth
• Loss of appetite
• Issue in sleeping
• Weakness
• Muscle twitches and muscle cramps
• Trouble in thinking
• Irritating itching that won’t go and dry skin
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in your ankles and feet
• Chest pain
• Urinating less or more than usual

Symptoms and sign of kidney disease are mostly unnoticeable, as kidney repair there function if the disease is reversible.

You might not develop symptoms until your kidney is affected by irreversible damage.

How to diagnose kidney disease?

Your doctor will ask you about your family medical history and the medication details you’re currently taking, and then they will ask you questions about the symptoms you notice and your urine flow.

Afterwards, they will ask you to take a physical exam like:

• Urine test to check your kidney’s situation and function.
• Blood test to see how much waste product you are carrying in your blood.
• Kidney biopsy, in which tissues from your kidney will be taken as a sample and sent to the lab for testing to check what causes kidney disease.
• Imaging test, CT scan, or ultrasound to give a clear image of your kidney and urinary tract. That will allow your doctor to diagnose your kidney properly and easily.

Kidney disease treatment

There are some forms of treatment for kidney disease that help maintain kidney disease and try to stop it from getting worse, soothe symptoms and make it less complicated.

In some cases, the treatment may help in restoring some of the function, but there is no cure for chronic kidney disease. However, in chronic diseases, your doctor and you work together to slow it down so that your kidney can do its job. Some of the basic treatment options are:

• Get regular visits from your healthcare provider to monitor your kidney’s health.
• Take care of your blood sugar level.
• Maintain your blood pressure level.
• Try to avoid taking painkillers and other Medication that may worsen your kidney disease.
• Quit smoking.
• Follow a healthy diet that is kidney-friendly, consuming food that reduces cholesterol levels and limits protein, sodium, and potassium intake.
• Maintain healthy body weight and exercise daily to stay fit.

1. Medication for kidney disease treatment

Your doctor will prescribe some medication depending on the cause of kidney disease.

Your healthcare provider may prescribe you one or more medications. Those medication may include:

• Phosphate binder is prescribed if your kidney can’t eliminate phosphate.
• Angiotensin receptor blocker(ARB) or an angiotensin-converting Enzyme(ACE) inhibitor to lower your body’s blood pressure.
• Medication that helps in lowering cholesterol levels.
• A diuretic to help your body eliminate extra fluid.
• Erythropoietin helps build red blood cells if you are anaemic.
• Vitamin D and calcium to prevent bone loss.

2. Daily lifestyle changes

When suffering from kidney disease, just changing your daily lifestyle habits can help you a lot. On the other hand, your healthcare provider will put you on some kind of special diet that is lower in sodium, potassium, protein and phosphate.

The recommended diet will be easy for you to digest and helpful for the damaged kidney, as it is hard for your kidney to take these nutrients out from the blood. This specific diet for kidney disease will make work easier for your kidney.

Along with diet, your healthcare provider will look at your water intake from the food you eat and how much you drink. They will also advise you to start taking some specific amount of minerals and vitamins, especially calcium and vitamin D, for bone strength.

If you are already suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes or both in addition to kidney disease, You have to follow the diet you doctor suggested you. With high blood pressure, the diet need to be low-salt diet, as it helps you managing blood pressure.

When we talk about diabetes, the diet should have correct food choices at it is important to keep your high blood sugar under control throughout the day.

3. Dialysis

A person goes for dialysis procedure when their kidney is not doing their job properly, so the dialysis can do that job.

Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis is method use for dialysis, it uses a machine with a mechanical filter to clean your blood. Even you can get this dialysis at home (after you caretaker learn how to do it) or a dialysis center.

When you go for at-home version of dialysis you have to do it up to 6 days a week, and it takes like 2 1/2 hour per day. But if you go to clinic, you have to go for three time a weak.

Before you start hemodialysis, you healthcare provider will ask you to undergo a surgery to make a place of access for the machine.

The surgeon will connect an artery into your arm through a fistula, it will take 6 weeks to heal  before you go for hemodialysis, and is the most common type to access.

If somebody wants to start dialysis sooner, the surgeon will insert a synthetic graft instead of a fistula. However, none of this works; you may get dialysis, a tubular medical device (catheter) that goes into the jugular vein, which is located in your neck.  

The process of hemodialysis works in a way where a tube is connected to the machine, and the other part goes into your access point, from where the blood will go into the machine to be cleaned and pumped back into your body.

This process can take several hours, as it cleans all the blood in your body.

Peritoneal

Peritoneal dialysis is also one way to dialysis; it uses the peritoneal membrane, or the lining of the abdomen, to clean the blood through dialysis.

In peritoneal dialysis, a surgeon will first insert a tube into your abdomen cavity. Then, during each treatment of dialysis, a fluid known as dialysate goes through the tube into your abdomen.

That fluid will take all the waste product from your abdomen and drain it out after the process is done; it takes several hours. However, you will need several rounds of treatment, in which sending fluid and the time fluid takes to clean the waste and drain it out.

However, an automated device can do this task overnight, which gives you a whole day with no disturbance in your usual activities.

Most importantly, both the dialysis have their own possible risks and problems, including infection. You must consult your doctor about the advantages and disadvantages of these dialysis.

Kidney transplant

A kidney transplant is an option for people who are suffering from advanced kidney disease.  

In this process, a “matching” kidney needs to be found from a family member who is alive,  from a person with the same blood group and not a relative, or from an organ donor who has recently died.

A kidney transplant is a major surgery and may take years to find a perfect kidney for you; people go on a waiting list until a donated kidney becomes available.

Once the transplant is done properly, it means you don’t have to go for dialysis anymore and need to take care of your diet and Medication so that your body can accept the donated kidney.

Sometimes, a kidney transplant might not be an option for you if you have other medical conditions, or your age can be an issue, too. Before a kidney transplant, you have to go for dialysis and may be put on a waiting list before a kidney is available for you.

Conclusion

The most common reasons for kidney disease are high blood pressure and diabetes. In this situation, most of the time, there are no early signs or symptoms, so if you feel that you are at risk of getting kidney disease, start regular visits to the doctor.

The doctor will ask for blood and urine tests to diagnose it as early as possible. If you are diagnosed with kidney disease, you may have to go for kidney dialysis or a kidney transplant, with some lifestyle changes and medication.

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