How To Recognize the Symptoms of Kidney Failure?

The Kidneys play an important role in maintaining homeostasis in the human body. They act as a filtering system that cleans the blood from metabolic wastes and excrete them in the form of urine. They also have a role in maintaining the pH balance of the blood, electrolyte balance, regulate blood pressure and initiate the production or red blood cells through releasing erythropoietin. Damages imposed on the kidneys can cause kidney failure. What are the symptoms of kidney failure?

What is Kidney Failure?

Kidney failure or renal failure is a medical condition wherein the kidneys could not filter the metabolic wastes and toxins present in the blood. There are two forms of kidney failure which are acute and chronic kidney failure.

Causes of Kidney Failure

There are three possible reasons or causes of kidney failure:

Pre Renal Causes:

First are pre renal causes which are low blood volume, dehydration, poor intake of fluids, and abnormal blood flow to the kidneys. Pre renal causes are the situations that promote poor blood flow to the kidneys. If renal blood flow is poor, the kidneys would not be able to have enough blood to filter and at the same time oxygenation of the kidney is poor which can cause kidney damage.

Renal Causes:

Second are renal causes which are sepsis, medications, and acute glomerulonephritis. Renal causes are conditions that directly bring damage to the kidneys which hinder the organ to carry out its job.

Post Renal Causes:

Third are the post renal causes which affect the outflow of urine. Post renal causes are tumors, obstruction of the bladder or ureters, kidney stones and prostate cancer or prostate hypertrophy.

How is it Diagnosed?

Renal failure is diagnosed in many ways. One way to measure damage is by measuring the blood creatinine level. If blood creatinine level is high, it means that the kidneys are damaged and are not able to filter the blood properly. Blood electrolytes are also affected. Ultrasound of the kidneys can also be done to see if there are any physical damages seen in the kidneys.

Symptoms of Kidney Failure

The symptoms of renal failure vary from one person to the other. Early stage of kidney failure may not reveal symptoms of the condition but as the disease progresses and the kidneys fail to filter blood wastes symptoms will start to unveil. The most important Symptoms of Kidney failure are:

vomiting
nausea
weight loss
loss of appetite
difficulty of breathing
poor urine output
blood in the urine,
difficulty in urination
itching
muscle cramps
abnormal heart rhythm,
water retention
bad breath
skin discoloration
paleness
pain on the back
dry skin

Prevention is better than cure. To prevent kidney failure, one should drink a lot of water, stop smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, prevent diabetes and hypertension. Yearly check up should be done to ensure proper functioning of the kidneys.