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URINARY HEALTH
Kidney Failure
Kidney (Renal) Failure - complete stopping of the kidneys where they no longer function and stop removing waste from the body through the urinary tract. The kidneys simply fail to work.
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When kidneys stop working it is pretty clear. The symptoms of renal failure are
- Urination changes from decreasing urine, stopping or being excessive
- Bloody urine (hematuria)
- Bruising, easily bleeding
- Changes in mood, appetite
- Less use and sensation in extremities
- Kidney pain (between ribs and hips)
- High blood pressure
- Metallic taste in mouth and unusual metallic breath smell
- Swelling from fluid retention, Nausea or vomiting
- Sluggishness and fatigue
People at risk for kidney failure are the elderly, diabetes patients, other kidney problems, people with low blood pressure and people with weakened immune systems or those affected by other diseases or problems already putting a strain on the kidneys. Alcohol drinkers are also at an increased risk of renal failure.
Please take a further look at how alcohol drinkers are also at an increased risk of renal failure.
There are a number of ways to detect kidney failure. Even early symptoms can be noticed by the doctor. First kidney failure diagnosis is made by observing the body for unusual fluid retention and swelling, and listening to the patient's breathing for crackles in the lungs, or signs of inflammation of the lining of the heart.
Further testing in the lab can provide a much more accurate diagnosis.
- X-ray
- CT scan
- Abdominal MRI
- BUN
- Creatinine clearance
- Serum creatinine
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Serum potassium
- Urine Test: Urinalysis
- Arterial gases may show metabolic acidosis
Acute kidney failure is potentially life-threatening and may require intensive treatment. However, the kidneys usually recover are function within several weeks to months after treatment. In cases of chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease, the kidneys never recover. Old age, infection, loss of blood from the intestinal tract, and progression of kidney failure also increase the risk of death.
Patients can live after kidney transplants or after surgeries where a tube is inserted into the body to drain the fluids. Acute kidney failure is a very disheartening to the patients as well as to the people who treat it.