Kidney Failure Symptoms | Causes | Treatment

Kidney diseases is steadily increasing due to rise in lifestyle diseases which account for nearly 50% of cases of kidney failure. Kidney failure can happen to anyone at any age.

Kidney Failure causes:

1. Diabetes
2. Hypertension
3. Inflammation of kidneys
4. Kidney stones
5. Medications- particularly pain killers
6. Congenital and hereditary diseases

Kidney Failure Symptoms:

Usually symptoms of kidney failure appear late in the disease process. The common symptoms are:
1. Change in urinary habits like increase in urine frequency & volume particularly at night
2. Nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness (due to accumulation of toxic wastes in the body)
3. Swelling in body parts due to accumulation of fluid
4. High blood pressure
5. Bone pains and anaemia due to deficiency of certain hormones produced and regulated by the kidneys.

Kidney Failure Treatment:

it is the major treatment option for kidney failure. It is the medical word for filtering waste products and removing fluids from the body which the kidneys are not able to remove. There are two types of dialysis:

1. Haemodialysis – It is the process of removing waste products and excess fluid from blood. This is done by circulating the patient’s blood through a filter called dialyser or artificial kidney which is used with a dialysis machine. HD is done in hospitals. Most patients need 2-3 treatments/week with each session lasting for 4-5 hours.

2. Peritoneal dialysis – It does not require a dialysis machine. PD occurs inside the body, using patient’s peritoneal membrane (lining of abdomen) as the filter. In this procedure, a soft tube (called catheter) is surgically placed through the abdominal wall. Special dialysis solution flows into the peritoneal cavity through it. It is performed by the patient himself or his attendant at home. Both HD and PD are equally effective depending on the patient’s condition and doctor’s evaluation. A patient needs few supplements to support the dialysis function viz, calcium, vitamin-D, haemoglobin increasing injections.