Health Spotlight: What You Should Know About Kidney Disease

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By Dr. Rajeesh Vasudev

Why are the kidneys so important in our body? Humans have two kidneys, each about the size of a fist, located on either side of the upper back. Healthy kidneys carry out many vital functions in our body and keep the bodily chemicals in balance. Most importantly, they remove waste products and excess fluid from the body through the urine.

Kidneys also regulate the salt and acid content in our body. Certain hormones that are produced by the kidneys control various functions in our body such as stimulation of red blood cell production, regulation of blood pressure and maintenance of healthy bones.

What is chronic kidney disease? Chronic kidney disease is a condition where kidneys gradually lose their ability to keep your blood clean. When kidney function declines, waste products and fluids can build up and make you feel unwell. You may experience complications like high blood pressure, low blood count, fragile bones, and poor nutritional health. Kidney disease also increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease.

What causes Chronic Kidney Disease? The two most common causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and hypertension, which are responsible for up to two-thirds of all the cases. Other conditions that affect the kidneys are:

What are the major risk factors for chronic kidney disease?

What are the symptoms of CKD? Most people may not have any symptoms until their kidney disease is advanced. However, you may notice that you:

What Are the Warning Signs of Kidney Disease? Although many forms of kidney disease do not produce symptoms until late in the course of the disease, there are few warning signs of kidney disease including:

Can Kidney Disease Be Successfully Treated? Kidney disease is a progressive disease, which often can be treated depending on the cause and stage of the disease. In its early stages, it is usually managed with exercise, diet, and medications. With this approach, most people can slow or stop the progression of kidney disease and enjoy a normal lifestyle. Careful control of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure can help prevent kidney disease or keep it from getting worse. Kidney stones and urinary tract infections can usually be treated successfully.

How is Kidney Failure Treated? Sometimes, chronic kidney disease may progress to kidney failure, requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation to sustain the life and healthy well-being. Dialysis is a treatment that removes wastes and excess fluid from your body. There are mainly two types of dialysis that are available: hemodialysis (blood dialysis) or peritoneal dialysis (belly dialysis). Treatment with hemodialysis may be performed at a dialysis unit or at home. Hemodialysis treatments are usually performed three times a week. Peritoneal dialysis is generally done daily at home.

A kidney transplant is an operation that places a new kidney inside your body. The kidney may come from someone who died or from a living donor who may be a relative, friend, or possibly a stranger, who donates a kidney to anyone in need of a transplant. Kidney transplants have high success rates.

A kidney specialist can explain the different approaches and help individual patients make the best treatment choices for themselves and their families.

Dr. Vasudev, MD FACP FASN FNKF, is a Nephrologist and Hypertension specialist in the Brazos Valley. He is a Clinical Assisitant Professor at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center and Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine, at CHI-St Joseph Regional in Bryan.