Preventing
and Treating Kidney Disease
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Chances are you pay far more attention to your
heart or brain than your kidneys. But if your
kidneys don’t function well, your heart
and brain—as well as every other organ
in your body—will suffer as well.
Various types of kidney problems may develop
because of increasing age, inherited medical
conditions, infections or injury, or underlying
health problems such as hypertension and diabetes.
In this report, you’ll learn more about
how your kidneys work and what can go wrong.
You’ll learn about what factors put you
at risk for various problems, especially for
chronic kidney disease, and what steps you can
take to keep your kidneys functioning as well
as possible. You’ll also learn more about
the latest treatments for kidney disease, how
to cope with emotional and logistical challenges,
and what resources are available that may help.
Most important, you’ll get information
you need to become an informed and active participant
in your care. 48 pages. (updated: 2005)
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Table of Contents:
- What your kidneys
do
- Eliminating
wastes
- Maintaining
internal balance
- Diagnosing kidney
problems
- Blood pressure
measurement
- Urine tests
- Blood tests
- Calculating
your GFR
- Imaging tests
- Kidney biopsy
- Common kidney problems
- Kidney stones
- Kidney cysts
and tumors
- Glomerulonephritis
- Nephrotic syndrome
- Interstitial
nephritis
- Analgesic nephropathy
- Kidney infections
- Renal artery
stenosis
- Chronic kidney disease
- Factors that
put you at risk
- What to do if
you’re at risk
- Determining
stage of disease
- Dietary guidelines
- Medication strategies
- Living with
chronic kidney disease
|
- Kidney failure
- Acute kidney
failure
- Chronic kidney
failure
- Hemodialysis
- Peritoneal dialysis
- Improvements
in dialysis
- Kidney transplant
- Preventing complications
- Keep your heart
healthy
- Treat anemia
- Protect your
bones
- Glossary
- Resources
- Organizations
- Books and booklets
|
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Here's
an Excerpt from this Special Health Report
Each bean-shaped kidney measures about four
to five inches long, about the size of an adult
fist. Yet in spite of their diminutive size,
your kidneys are biological powerhouses. Although
they constitute less than 1% of your body weight,
at any given time they receive about 20% of your
blood. Your kidneys are busy monitoring, cleansing,
and recycling about 50 gallons of blood every
24 hours. That means all 10 pints of blood in
the average person’s body are processed
about 40 times a day.
Your kidneys perform two main functions: They
eliminate wastes, and they help regulate your
body’s internal environment by keeping
blood levels of certain hormones, electrolytes,
and nutrients in balance.
When both of your kidneys are healthy, you
have 100% renal function. Fortunately the kidneys
are amazingly resilient organs and initially
able to handle more blood processing and waste
removal than your body needs, so a small decline
in renal function does not affect your health.
This built-in overcapacity also explains why
people can function with one healthy kidney,
either because they are born that way or because
they donate a kidney to someone else.
Specific kidney problems may develop after
an infection or injury, or because of some underlying
health problem such as diabetes and hypertension.
Some kidney problems are acute, meaning that
they occur suddenly, usually cause noticeable
symptoms, and may be reversible. But the more
common types of kidney problems are chronic:
They take years (even decades) to develop, may
not produce symptoms at first, and require long-term
treatment.
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