What is kidney failure?
A pair of kidneys are located toward your lower back. Kidneys filter your blood and remove toxins from your body. However, they send toxins to your bladder, which your body later releases during urination. Kidney failure may occur when your kidneys lose the ability to sufficiently filter waste from your blood and remove toxins from your body. However, the most common factors can interfere with your kidney health and function, such as:-
- Highly exposure toxic to environmental pollutants or certain medicSpecificCertain chronic and acute disease
- Severe dehydration problems
- Kidney trauma
Regularly, if your kidneys can’t do their job correctly, your body becomes overloaded with toxins. However, this process can lead to kidney failure, which can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Types of kidney failure
There are five different types of kidney disease:-
Acute prerenal kidney failure
However, insufficient blood flow to the kidneys can cause acute prerenal kidney failure. A pair of kidneys can’t filter toxins from the blood without enough blood flow. This type of kidney failure can usually be cured when your health consultant determines the cause of the decreased blood flow.
Acute intrinsic kidney failure
However, this kidney disease can result from direct kidney trauma, like physical impact or an accident. Acute intrinsic kidney failure causes toxin overload and ischemia, which lack oxygen to the kidneys. The following may cause ischemia:-
- Severe bleeding
- Shock
- Renal blood vessels obstruction
- Glomerulonephritis
Chronica prerenal kidney failure
When there isn’t enough blood flowing to the kidneys for extended periods, the kidneys begin to shrink and lose the ability to function.
Chronic intrinsic kidney failure
This type of kidney failure happens when there’s long-term damage to the kidneys due to intrinsic kidney disease. This kidney failure develops from direct trauma to the kidneys, like severe bleeding or a lack of oxygen.
Chronic post-renal kidney failure
A long-term blockage of the urinary tract that prevents urination. And this causes pressure and eventual kidney damage.
Symptoms of kidney failure
Sometimes no symptoms are present. However, possible signs of kidney disease may include:-
- A reduced amount of urine
- Swelling of your different body parts from retention of fluids caused by the failure of the kidneys to eliminate water waste
- Unexplained shortness of breath
- Extreme drowsiness or fatigue
- Persistent nausea
- Confusion
- Pain or pressurize feeling in your chest
- Seizures
- Coma
Signs of kidney failure
Moreover, early signs of kidney disease may be difficult to pinpoint. However, these signs and symptoms are often subtle and hard to identify. If you experience early signs of kidney failure, they may include:-
- Reduced urine output
- Fluid retention that leads to swelling in limbs
- Shortness of breath
Causes of kidney failure
However, kidney disease can be the result of several problems or causes. In the same kind, most people who are most at risk usually have one or more of the following causes:-
Loss of blood flow to the kidneys
A sudden loss of blood flow to your kidneys can prompt kidney disease. However, some problems that cause loss of blood flow to the kidneys may include:-
- A heart attack
- Heart disease
- Liver failure
- Dehydration
- A severe burn
- An allergic reaction
- A severe infection, like sepsis
Urine elimination problems
However, some cancers issues can block the urine passageways, such as:-
- Prostate
- Colon
- Cervical
- Bladder
Some other conditions can interrupt urination and possibly lead to kidney disease, including:-
- Kidney stones
- An enlarged prostate
- Blood clots within your urinary tract, and
- Damage to the nerves that control your urinary bladder
Kidney failure treatment
However, there are several treatment methods for kidney failure. Possible treatment methods you need will depend on the reason for your kidney failure.
Dialysis
The dialysis treatment method filters and purifies the blood using a machine. This treatment doesn’t cure kidney failure but can extend your life if you go through its regularly scheduled treatments. Depending on the dialysis treatment method, you may be connected to a large device or a portable catheter bag.
Kidney transplant
However, another treatment method is a kidney transplant. A transplanted kidney can work successfully, and dialysis treatment is no longer needed. Usually, there is a long wait to receive a donor kidney compatible with your body. And, if you have a living donor, the process may go faster.
You must take some drugs like immunosuppressive after the surgery to prevent your body from rejecting the new kidney. Immunosuppressive drugs have their side effects, some of which are serious.
