The Symptoms of Kidney Disease – Knowing it Could Save Your Life
Posted by admin in Kidney Disease on May 2, 2012
As with any medical condition, early recognition and treatment is the key to the management of renal diseases. There are many people who have chronic kidney disease and do not realize for a long period, because the early warning signs can be very easy to dismiss, or may have minimal symptoms. It can take years, even decades, for chronic kidney disease to develop into renal failure, and before you recognize the signs of an inefficient functioning kidney, the better your chances are to regain your kidney health.
One of the most obvious signs of kidney damage are changes in your urination. The work of the kidneys is to produce urine, so that when the kidneys are not working properly, the quality and quantity of urine is likely to change. May not be able to pass through the night without having to get up to urinate. On the other hand, you may notice that you urinate less frequently. The color of urine can vary from very light, dark, cloudy color, which may contain blood. Urine may be foamy or bubbly. You can see that it is painful to urinate, or that you can never alleviate the feeling that you have to urinate even if nothing happens when you try.
Someone with the kidneys are not functioning properly may also feel tired. Healthy kidneys make something called erythropoietin, which signals your body to produce red blood cells. If the kidneys do not produce this hormone in sufficient quantity, you will have fewer red blood cells carrying oxygen in your body, you are anemic. This results in muscle and brain becoming much more tired than usual.
Other symptoms of anemia related to kidney are feeling cold all the time, even when the weather is warm. Also, if the brain does not receive enough oxygen to the absence of red blood cells in the production phase, this can lead to problems of memory, problems of concentration and dizziness. Read the rest of this entry »
Kidney Diet – Help Kidneys By Controlling Protein, Fluids, Phosphorous, Potassium and Sodium Intake
Posted by admin in Kidney Diet on April 6, 2012
The kidney diet often referred to as the renal diet is designed for people with kidney disease. Over 31 million people here in the US have kidney disease and the numbers are increasing. Medical professionals such as doctors and hospitals working with kidney disease patients developed this special eating plan with the medical science community and is based on scientific research. There is no single kidney diet as each plan is specific to each person. This requires careful research and monitoring in order to design the correct plan for each patients needs. The patient needs to work with a renal dietitian to get the right eating plan to fit their dietary requirements. This is based on information such as age, activity, if they are on dialysis and the degree of kidney failure. There are strict guidelines to control the amount of protein, fluids, phosphorous, potassium and sodium that are consumed, and this helps the kidneys.
Protein is an element that should be monitored. Protein is needed to repair, maintain and build muscles, glands and organs. When protein is used by the body it creates urea. Urea is a waste product that is filtered from the body in urine by the kidneys. When the kidneys are not working properly, urea can build up and could cause other serious illness. Controlling the amount and type of protein consumed is necessary to extend the health of the kidneys.
Fluids both the type and the amount can be a major concern depending upon how much kidney function there is.
Phosphorus and potassium are two other minerals that are found in high amounts in many different foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, colas and dairy foods. These minerals are also necessary for bodily functions. The kidneys task is to regulate the amount of these minerals that are in the body. Having an overabundance of phosphorus can cause bone loss and too much potassium can adversely affect the heart. Most salt substitutes are made of potassium chloride and are not allowed on most kidney diets. Many low sodium products are now being made with potassium chloride. You must pay attention to this to help avoid too much potassium in your diet. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Let Your Kidney Fail
Posted by admin in Kidney Fail on March 30, 2012
Starting from eating junk foods, drinking alcohol drinks and even breathing in polluted air contributes towards filling up your body with unwanted toxins. The kidney, which is considered to be a natural and unique toxin filter of your body, prevents foreign substances such as Aspartame used in diet sodas from being converted into harmful elements like Formaldehyde and being infused with the blood. If this happens, the chances of the body being invaded by deadly chronic diseases like cancer and renal failure increases tremendously. All these diseases can be effectively prevented from spreading any permanent damage to your body by getting them diagnosed by the doctor when they are still in their early stages. If you are not in the believer of regular health check-ups and wait for falling sick to have an excuse to visit your doctor, you will be one of those many who run the risk of chronic renal disease.
The kidney does not lose its capability of ridding the body from all the harmful wastes overnight. This is a gradual build up process which when neglected, reaches its peak. Once it goes past the stage of partial failure and enters the last stage, which is total failure of the renal organ, there is no returning back to normal. Then the only option that remains in front of the patient is opting for the extremely painful dialysis treatments.
As long as such conditions can be prevented, you surely would not want to be dependent on an external machine to help you clean out all the fatal toxins out from your body system. But dialysis does just that. It is almost like a substitute of the kidney, only much more expensive and artificial process. The withdrawal of this treatment is nothing short of a death sentence for the patience. In its absence, the patient dies an intensely painful death. To avoid the risk of such unfathomably destructive conditions, the best way is to take all the necessary measures to eradicate the probable causes of this disease. The commonly detected causes are: Read the rest of this entry »