Almost everybody is born with two kidneys. Kidneys remove waste from your body in the form of urine, filter toxins from your blood, and help regulate blood pressure. If something happens to one kidney, the other can function adequately and many people live normal lives with only one functioning kidney.
As many as 20 million Americans, however, have damaged kidneys, and 20 million more are at risk. Many people with kidney disease don't even know it.
How Serious Is Kidney Disease?
Nearly a quarter of a million adults in the United States die from kidney-related diseases each year. And nearly 400,000 Americans suffer from kidney failure and must receive regular dialysis (medical filtering of the blood for waste removal) or a kidney transplant in order to survive.
Transplanted kidneys must be biologically compatible with the recipient in order for the transplant to work. Kidneys for transplant can come from someone who has just died, a family member, or a compatible non-family member. Although kidney transplants are common (about 14,000 each year in the United States) and usually successful, the waiting list is much longer than the available number of kidneys.
What Are the Risks?
- More than 40 percent of kidney disease cases are related to diabetes. Preventing, postponing, and careful management of diabetes will reduce your kidney-disease risks.
- One if four cases of kidney disease is related directly to high blood pressure. High blood pressure can be treated and managed.
- Aging is the third most common factor in kidney disease. Aging is unavoidable, but staying healthy and active will help you avoid kidney diseases.
- Glomerulonephritis is a disease that slowly damages the kidney so it can't filter waste from the blood. Over time it can lead to kidney failure. There is no cure, but progress can be slowed with treatment.
- Cysts can grow in the kidney and block functioning and become infected. Most cysts are not serious, but in some cases medication or surgery is necessary.
How Can I Find Out if I'm at Risk?
Symptoms of kidney disease might not be evident or specific. There are, however some general warning signs to watch for. See your doctor regularly for checkups and especially if you have any of these symptoms or conditions:
- High blood pressure (increases your risk)
- Diabetes (increases your risk)
- Swelling of the face and/or ankles
- Puffiness around the eyes
- Frequent urination especially at night
- Dark colored urine brown or reddish
- Back pain just below the rib cage
How Can I Avoid Kidney Disease?
Because the exact cause of some kidney problems is unknown, there is no absolute way to guarantee you can avoid kidney disease. There are, however, some simple and commonsense ways to improve your chances.
- Drink plenty of fluids. Water is a good choice.
- Exercise regularly every day or almost every day.
- Don't smoke or quit if you do.
- Use alcohol moderately, if at all.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Get checked regularly for high blood pressure and diabetes.
Ask your doctor to do the simple blood tests and physical exam that can identify many kidney conditions. |
