Chronic kidney disease occurs when the kidneys are damaged, meaning they don’t work as they should. This condition can begin with no symptoms, meaning damage can be happening and degrading the kidneys’ function without someone noticing until it gets to a serious point.
Your kidneys perform many jobs but the main one is to filter waste out of your bloodstream and eliminate it through urine. They also help balance the concentration of minerals and salts in your body, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium, that are constantly circulating through the bloodstream.
When your kidneys begin to fail over time, they can’t filter blood normally, leading to a buildup of waste in your body. This is what causes the symptoms of kidney disease or kidney failure.
In the early stages of developing kidney disease, there are likely no symptoms at all. This is partially due to the fact that the kidneys have a greater-than-necessary capacity to filter blood, so even if they’re partially damaged (or if you donate a kidney to someone who needs one), you can still feel good and be relatively healthy.
In the later stages of chronic kidney disease, you may experience a wide range of symptoms, including:
Due to this long and incomplete list of symptoms that a person might experience when their kidney function declines, it can be difficult to recognize chronic kidney failure without a blood or urine test to determine whether a person has kidney disease. This is why people seek out a kidney doctor if other tests or health checkups reveal risk factors for renal disease like chronic kidney disease.
The leading causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Diabetes can lead to elevated levels of glucose, a sugar, in your blood. Unmanaged high blood sugar can damage the kidneys over time, hindering their ability to filter out other waste products and allowing necessary proteins and nutrients to leak out into your urine. A common test for diabetic kidney disease includes testing the levels of the protein albumin in the urine. Increased levels of albumin often indicates chronic kidney disease.
High blood pressure can damage the highly sensitive blood vessels in the kidneys that are essential to creating an environment that filters out toxins and waste products.
There are numerous other causes for kidney diseases, including:
If you’re at risk for kidney disease because you have a family history of it or you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you should take steps to protect your kidney health before you notice symptoms. Precautions like regular blood check-ups and urine tests can be taken. These tests will help your doctor determine the extent of damage to your kidneys and then decide the best course of treatment.
Choosing a healthy lifestyle is the number one way to prevent chronic disease. Stay active, eat a balanced and nutritious diet, and take care to manage any other diagnosed health conditions you may have.
Treatment for end-stage renal disease mainly consists of dialysis or kidney transplant. Talk to your doctor about the options and drawbacks of treatment.
At the Kidney Clinic of North Florida, our nephrologist, Dr. Gaurav Tandon, helps people identify and treat or prevent their kidney disease before their organs fail. If you’re experiencing the symptoms of kidney disease or think you may be at risk, early detection is key to maintaining your healthy lifestyle. Make an appointment with your health care team today.
For many patients around the state, KCNF is the healthcare facility of choice. We seek to establish a distinctive environment with friendly and well-mannered staff and top medical practises. We provide cutting edge technology, vast research resources, and world-class options to our patients. We are able to offer our customers a variety of kidney treatments, consultations, and tests. Our expert team of doctors and nurses are available to round the clock. We also accept major insurances.
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