The kidneys play an essential role in the body by filtering out wastes, toxins, and excess fluid from the blood. In fact, the kidneys filter all the blood in the body every 30 minutes. These actions are critical for ensuring that the body remains in good health, but kidney disease can put a damper on this.
What is Kidney Disease?
The CDC estimates that more than 15% of US adults have chronic kidney disease, which means more than 37 million people are at risk of their kidneys not filtering the blood properly. On top of this, they suspect that 40% of those with severely reduced kidney function are not aware that they have kidney disease.
Kidney disease occurs when damage to the kidneys prevents them from filtering blood as optimally as they should. When this happens, excess waste and fluid that the kidneys would typically remove from the blood remain in the body. As they continue to build up, it can cause other health problems.
Some of the health consequences of kidney disease include:
- heart disease
- stroke
- anemia
- low calcium levels
- high potassium levels
- more infections
- loss of appetite
- depression
- lower quality of life
As you can see, some of the complications of kidney disease are life-threatening, emphasizing the importance of maintaining optimal kidney function.
The Importance of Early Treatment
Kidney disease is a progressive illness, which means that it will usually get worse over time. There are five stages of kidney disease, with stage 5 being kidney failure. The stage someone is in depends on how well their kidneys are filtering waste and extra fluid.
Treatment exists that can help slow the progression of kidney disease. This is one of the primary reasons why knowing about kidney disease is so important. If you are aware that you have kidney disease, you can take the necessary precautions and treatments to prevent it from progressing to kidney failure.
In addition, the sooner treatment begins, the better. Once the kidneys have been damaged, there is no way to undo it. So, it is best to begin treatment as soon as possible, before the kidneys become too damaged.
The problem with kidney disease is that it does not usually present with any symptoms until the kidneys are badly damaged. This is why it is important to be aware if you are at risk of kidney disease, as well as receive yearly check-ups where a doctor can check kidney function.
If kidney disease is left untreated, it can have some significant complications. The most severe of which is kidney failure, where the kidneys completely shut down and cannot filter the blood at all. In these cases, the individual will require dialysis. Yet another complication of untreated kidney disease is early cardiovascular disease. As it stands, kidney disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
However, kidney failure does not occur to everyone with kidney disease. By taking medication and making lifestyle changes, the risk of kidney failure and other health consequences can be lowered. Kidney disease may be progressive, but actionable steps taken when the disease is still in its early stages can help prevent and slow down the progression.
References
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/kidneydisease/basics.html
[2] https://www.kidneyfund.org/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/#stages-of-ckd
If I am consistently showing blood and protein in my urine is this an indication of early kidney disease? My docor always mentions it, and then dismisses it. I am concerned because I have the markers for lupus and I know kidney problems are common.