Traveling the Road to Wellness

National Kidney Month Spreads Awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease

March 2010

Even though approximately 26 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD) and many more are at risk, most people don’t understand just how serious kidney disease can be. We all know the importance of staying fit, protecting our hearts, keeping our cholesterol and blood pressure levels low. But if you ask the average person about kidney health, you likely wouldn’t get a very well-informed answer.

March is National Kidney Month, and the National Kidney Foundation is trying to spread the word about early detection, testing and prevention for chronic kidney disease. CKD is another common life-threatening disease that often goes undetected until it reaches a very advanced stage, making it difficult to treat effectively. However, according to the foundation, CKD can be diagnosed early through simple tests that could potentially save millions of lives. The National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP®) offers free screening for those at risk.

What Do Your Kidneys Do?

The most commonly understood function of kidneys is the secretion and filtration of urine. Actually, your kidneys are responsible for more than just removing waste and excess fluid. You kidneys are also in charge of regulating your body’s salt, potassium and acid content. According to the National Kidney Foundation, your kidneys are actually powerful bean-shaped chemical factories that perform the following functions:

  • Remove waste products from the body
  • Remove drugs form the body
  • Balance the body's fluids
  • Release hormones that regulate blood pressure
  • Produce an active form of vitamin D that promotes strong, healthy bones
  • Control the production of red blood cells

You're born with two kidneys, located on either side of your spine just below your rib cage. Each one is made up of about a million microscopic parts called nephrons, which are essentially tiny blood filters. Over the course of one 24 hour period, your kidneys filter out around 200 quarts of fluid, about two quarts of which are removed from the body as urine.

Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease can be defined as the slow loss of kidney function over time, usually accompanied by some type of kidney abnormality, such as protein in the urine or kidney stones. CKD slowly gets worse over time, and the major problem is that there may be no visible symptoms you can readily identify. This is why testing is so important. The loss of function usually takes months or years to occur, and it may be so slow that symptoms do not occur until kidney function is less than ten percent of what it should normally be.

People who suffer from CKD are exposed to even greater health risks, including cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke and complete kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease or ESRD. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease. Other key risk factors include high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease (including a family history). African-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics have also shown a higher risk for CKD, as have individuals over 60 years of age. Obesity, already linked to several other diseases, is yet another risk factor for CKD.

If you believe you are at risk for chronic kidney disease or have a family history of complications, check out the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP®) to see if there is a scheduled free screening coming up in your area.

Sources: http://www.kidney.org and http://www.naturalnews.com/027211_herbs_green_tea_health.html

 

 

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