See That You Don’t Have CKD
You don’t need both kidneys to live, but you should still take care of them. Kidneys are an essential part of regulating your body, including filtering blood, regulating pH, and regulating blood pressure. However, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than one in seven adults.
What is CKD?
CKD is when the kidneys do not function properly to filter blood or excess waste. CKD may result in:
- Low red blood cells count (anemia)
- Low calcium levels
- High potassium levels
- High phosphorus levels
- Loss of appetite
CKD is a disease that progressively worsens over time and is identified by stages 1 through 5. The stages are identified by the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) range to determine how well the kidneys are filtering blood.
Risk Factors
The risk factors for CKD mostly include predisposed health conditions, such as:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Family history of CKD
Though the risk factors for CKD include a health condition, these illnesses may arise from unhealthy lifestyle choices including physical inactivity, diet, and more.
Symptoms
People with early CKD may not show any signs or symptoms for it. Thus, blood and urine tests need to be conducted to measure the creatinine level in the blood and protein in urine. However, those with stage 3 of CKD will at least exhibit symptoms of:
- Troubles with sleeping due to muscle cramps
- Pain in the back (where kidneys are located)
- Change in urine (either foamy or a dark color)
- Swelling
- Shortness of breath
CKD symptoms do tend to get worse. However, treatment can slow the progress to kidney failure.
Treatments
Treatment for CKD varies based on the stage they are in. Stages 3 and below mostly use medication to control the level of the blood. For example, people with diabetes may take medication to control glucose levels and, in turn, help their chronic kidney disease.
For critical conditions of CKD, when near or at kidney failure (stage 4 or 5), dialysis is needed to remove the toxins from the blood that the kidney was not able to do. The other option is to have a kidney transplant.
How Do I Prevent CKD?
As mentioned earlier, many people who have early CKD may not display any sign or symptoms and will then need to get a blood and urine test. Therefore, it is important to check with your doctor regularly, as well as maintain a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle includes:
- Exercising regularly
- Eating a healthy diet (avoid salt, lower potassium, and limit protein)
- Keeping a low blood pressure
- Quit smoking
- Maintaining sugar levels if diabetic
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