3 Causes of Acute Kidney Failure

You're said to suffer from the problem of acute kidney failure if your kidneys suddenly stop working and lose their ability to eliminate waste materials including excess fluids and salts from the blood. The condition usually develops quickly over a few days or even a few hours. When this happens, waste materials accumulate in your blood, disrupting the chemical balance of your bloodstream.

So, what causes this problem?

Acute kidney failure can occur because of any one of these reasons:

1. A drop or slowdown of blood flow to the kidneys - Adequate blood circulation to the kidneys is of great importance as without it the kidneys may end malfunctioning. If blood flow to the kidney is hampered, a part of or the entire kidney may die. You may suffer from acute kidney failure if blood flow to the kidneys gets impaired due to conditions like

-Heavy blood loss
-Sepsis (body's inflammatory reaction to an infection, which can bring about organ failure, tissue damage, and death)
-Injury
-Use of certain drugs
-Dehydration
-Burns
-Heart disease

2. Urinary obstructions - A sudden blockage that hampers your kidney's ability to eliminate urine can also bring about acute kidney failure. When this happens, it leads to a build up of toxins in the body, causing an overload of the kidneys. Conditions that bring about this urinary obstruction include:

-Cervical cancer
-Colon cancer
-Bladder cancer
-Kidney stones
-Enlarged prostate
-Prostate cancer

3. Disease within the kidneys - Even instances of clotting within the blood vessels of the kidneys can lead to acute kidney failure. This is because if the movement of blood cells within the blood vessels gets hampered, kidneys are not able to filter out toxins from the body. The conditions and diseases that may cause clotting, and subsequently damage to the kidneys include:

-Scleroderma (an autoimmune disease that affects connective tissues and skin)
-Build-up of cholesterol deposits
-Glomerulonephritis (an inflammatory condition of the kidney's ball-shaped structures called glomeruli)
-Hemolytic uremic syndrome (a condition that occurs due to untimely death of red blood cells)
-Lupus (a disorder of the body's immune system that brings about damage to the body's own organs and tissues)



3 Causes of Acute Kidney Failure

The kidneys are the purifiers of the body; they help in removing the waste from the body through the urine. In those suffering from kidney diseases, the function of the kidney is affected, and so their ability to clear out waste from the body is reduced and completely lost gradually. However, waste continues to form, and therefore, such patients have to undergo dialysis, where the blood is purified through an external device.

The frequency and duration of the dialysis would depend on how effectively the kidneys are still functioning and how much waste has been formed from the time of the previous dialysis session. The person s overall body mass index (BMI) and the water weight gained are also considered.

Once it is decided that a person s kidneys are damaged and dialysis is required, the person has to prepare for a long-term process. The following outlines what to expect before, during, and after the dialysis sessions. 

Before the session: 

Since most people prefer to get it done at a dialysis centre, it is preferable to plan for it, three treatments a week on an average, with each session lasting about 4 to 4 hours.

During the session: 

The blood flows through the dialysis device, which acts as an artificial kidney. The sequence of events are as follows:
The Weight is checked
Vital signs, including heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and pulse are checked.
The access areas are washed, and needles are used to connect these areas to the dialysis machine. Anesthesia may be used in the beginning to reduce the pain in this area.
The same access areas are used for each session, and over a period of time, buttonholes are formed which is like a small tunnel.
Though the session would last about 3 to 4 days, normal activities can be done, including reading, working on a laptop, watching television, or even sleeping.
Once the dialysis session is complete, the tube will be removed and a dressing is placed over the site.
After the session

The same site is used each time for the dialysis, so for the first couple of sessions, there could be discomfort. There could also be nausea, diarrhoea, cramping, and headaches.
The treatment needs to be adjusted based on symptoms, so please let the doctor know if you experience any symptoms.

Call the doctor if you are facing the following:

Bleeding from the access site
Inflammatory signs around the site
Persistent fever of over 104 degrees
Numbness or weakness in the arms
Confusion, drowsiness, or cognition problems
Though initially uncomfortable, once you get into the dialysis schedule, you will notice the difference of how cleansed you will feel after each session.

Undergoing Dialysis - What To Expect From It?

You're said to suffer from the problem of acute kidney failure if your kidneys suddenly stop working and lose their ability to eliminate waste materials including excess fluids and salts from the blood. The condition usually develops quickly over a few days or even a few hours. When this happens, waste materials accumulate in your blood, disrupting the chemical balance of your bloodstream.

So, what causes this problem?

Acute kidney failure can occur because of any one of these reasons:

1. A drop or slowdown of blood flow to the kidneys - Adequate blood circulation to the kidneys is of great importance as without it the kidneys may end malfunctioning. If blood flow to the kidney is hampered, a part of or the entire kidney may die. You may suffer from acute kidney failure if blood flow to the kidneys gets impaired due to conditions like

Heavy blood loss
Sepsis (body's inflammatory reaction to an infection, which can bring about organ failure, tissue damage, and death)
Injury
Use of certain drugs
Dehydration
Burns
Heart disease
2. Urinary obstructions - A sudden blockage that hampers your kidney's ability to eliminate urine can also bring about acute kidney failure. When this happens, it leads to a build up of toxins in the body, causing an overload of the kidneys. Conditions that bring about this urinary obstruction include:

Cervical cancer
Colon cancer
Bladder cancer
Kidney stones
Enlarged prostate
Prostate cancer
3. Disease within the kidneys - Even instances of clotting within the blood vessels of the kidneys can lead to acute kidney failure. This is because if the movement of blood cells within the blood vessels gets hampered, kidneys are not able to filter out toxins from the body. The conditions and diseases that may cause clotting, and subsequently damage to the kidneys include:

Scleroderma (an autoimmune disease that affects connective tissues and skin)
Build-up of cholesterol deposits
Glomerulonephritis (an inflammatory condition of the kidney's ball-shaped structures called glomeruli)
Hemolytic uremic syndrome (a condition that occurs due to untimely death of red blood cells)
Lupus (a disorder of the body's immune system that brings about damage to the body's own organs and tissues)

3 Causes of Acute Kidney Failure!

If your doctor ever diagnoses you with chronic kidney disease, he/she will give you two options to choose from. The first option is to undergo dialysis for the rest of your life, while the other option is to undergo a kidney transplant. While you may prefer avoiding a major surgery, such as a transplant, dialysis is not the best solution for your condition.

Here are some reasons why you should consider kidney transplant surgery over dialysis if you are looking for better health for the long-term:

1. Increases your life expectancy: What you may not know is that people on dialysis treatment have a severely reduced life expectancy. For instance, if you are 30 years old when dialysis starts, the treatment will keep you alive at most for 15 more years. Therefore, you may not even survive until your fifties with dialysis treatment for your damaged kidneys.

However, if you transplant a healthy kidney your life expectancy increases by 30 to 40 years. Keep in mind that kidneys from living donors are better and will help you live longer.

2. Eliminates the need for undergoing dialysis: If you choose dialysis over transplant surgery, you will need to undergo the treatment on a daily basis. This is not only costly but also affects your quality of life. For instance, a patient on dialysis will need to make special arrangements if he/she wants to go on a vacation with family so that his treatment continues even during the trip.

With a kidney transplant surgery, once you recover from the operation, you can live a normal life, without the need for daily treatment.

3. Lower cost of treatment: While you may think kidney transplant surgery is the costlier option between it and dialysis, you would be wrong to assume so. In kidney transplantation surgery, you pay a hefty amount at the time of the operation. However, in the case of dialysis, you pay smaller sums over very long periods. When you add up these small sums over 10-15 years of dialysis, you will find that transplantation is the cheaper option.

If you are young and have a long life ahead of you, kidney transplantation should be the first and foremost choice of treatment for chronic kidney disease. You can undergo dialysis while you wait for a donor and then receive a healthy organ.

Why Kidney Transplant Should Be Preferred Over Dialysis?

A kidney transplant is a procedure that employs an operation to transplant properly functioning kidney in the body. The main job of the kidneys is to remove the excess waste from a person s body with the help of a filtration process. When the kidneys stop filtering the toxins properly, they become diseased as harmful waste products and toxins begin to accumulate in the body. Following this, the patient has to go through treatment measures like dialysis or kidney transplant.

Read on to know the five things you should keep in mind about a kidney transplant.

Treatment: Transplant is one of the best ways to treat chronic kidney disease stage-V, until unless it is contraindicated. Life becomes near normal after transplant, though there is a possibility of rejection of transplant kidney. Patient has to take immunosuppressive medication life long. 
Medication: Medications are mainly for:
To prevent rejection: Patient takes immunosuppressive medications life long. 
Prevention of infection: Patient has to take care all the measures to prevent infections as they are more prone to infections. 
Other medication: To control diabetes, HTN etc. 
Family Only: The donors are from family or emotionally related or cadavers (after brain death). HLA-matched donors are better because of less chances of rejections and first reduction of immunosuppressive. 
Doing Your Part: Once transplant is done - patient becomes normal and he/she lives a normal life. However, they have to take regular medications and to protect themselves from various infection. 
End Stage Renal Diseases: These diseases includes diabetes mellitus, HTN, polycystic kidney disease, chronic glomerulonephritis or interstitial nephritis etc.
Consult your Nephrologist before going for renal transplant for detailed check up or line of action.

Kidney Transplant - 5 Things About it !

Those two, small bean-shaped organs are indeed essential for a perfectly healthy life. To check if a person is dead or living, medical practitioners need to confirm response from three organs of the human body heart, brain and kidneys. Kidneys absorb impurities from the blood, thus, purifying it and lead to the production of urine. Urine is necessary to rid your system of body wastes. Kidneys play a key role in maintaining hormone balance. The presence of any factor that could impede free functioning of this organ should be diagnosed, treated and eliminated at the earliest possible. Kidney diseases and subsequent kidney failure see no age bar. It affects both young and old people. In case of younger folks, the symptoms take years to surface and thus the chances of a fatal outcome are even higher.

Causes of kidney failure at a tender age:

    Chain smoking is a trigger: Smokers suffer from a higher risk of kidney failure. Smoking is a bad habit that has engulfed almost ninety percent of young adults. Irrespective of awareness programs and warning messages, there are millions who smoke nonchalantly. Smoking is known to impair kidney function which again can have frightening implications.
    High blood pressure levels must be controlled: Since stress is a common phenomenon among most individuals high blood pressure is also prevalent among a majority of these individuals. Younger people suffer from high blood pressure due to workplace politics and familial tensions. High blood pressure should not be taken lightly. Exercising and regular medications should be opted for in order to counter the threat of kidney failure at a young age.
    If you are obese, you are stepping closer to the threat: If not optimal; being close to the optimal body weight is very necessary to keep health disorders in check. If you are obese, you are not safe; one must make efforts to lose weight or else face the alarming situation when his or her kidneys fail to function properly.
    Consumption of junk food can cause complications: Junk food is fatty. One must keep away from high-protein and high-fat diet. Food items rich in protein and fats can push you towards chronic kidney diseases.
    Genetics may discern the health of your kidneys: The incidence of kidney failure in your family history can make you prone to a similar condition. Extra care should be taken to avoid any such possibility. Regular health check-ups should be undertaken.

Why You May be at the Risk of Kidney Failure at an Early Age

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