Every now and then, we hardly wake up without the media reporting on cases of people grappling with the torture of kidney disease. I have a problem with how kidney disease is being portrayed in the public domain lately.
Watch my video on the topic
The kidney can lose its function quickly in a matter of minutes under certain conditions and that is referred to as acute kidney failure. However, the national problem of kidney as often reported has little to do with acute type of kidney failure. It has a lot to do with years of progressive kidney disease.
National discourse makes it look as if kidney failure is an acute problem and that people suddenly suffer it compared to the likes of infectious diseases. People need to understand that, there is a huge difference between kidney failure and kidney disease. Proper contextual public knowledge on this health condition is the best way to dealing with it in relation to management, treatment and prevention. This is because, the best persons to manage or prevent kidney disease or kidney failure are not doctors nor nurses; it is the general public themselves.
Key Functions of the Kidney
Some of the vital functions of the kidney include; extracting metabolic wastes and toxins from the blood and excrete them out through urine. It is these chemical wastes that dissolve to give such colour to urine. Failure to remove them may be injurious not only to the kidney but the whole-body system.
Kidney regulates fluid level of the body. When there is enough fluid in the body, the kidney allows normal umber colour urination. If body fluid level is in excess, it allows frequent urination to have the right balance and also if fluid level of body reduces, the kidney allows more fluid to be reabsorbed into the body system. This reduces urine output volume and it results in concentrated or more coloured urine.
The kidney controls the rate of blood production by means of hormone secretion.
Kidney also controls blood pressure. Anything that disturbs these crucial functions of the kidney will put the individual in a life-threatening situation.
Kidney Failure and Kidney Disease
In short, a failed kidney is one that has lost its core functions almost completely-eliminating toxic and waste chemicals out of the body. Kidney disease, on the other hand is any form of damage to the kidney, reducing its functional capacity. In kidney failure, there’s nearly complete loss of function whilst there is progressive loss in function with kidney disease. Based on this, there are five stages of kidney disease of which the last/5th stage is also called kidney failure or End Stage Kidney Disease.
The Five Stages of Kidney Disease
1.Stage One Kidney Disease. There is only little damage and the kidney’s function is slightly disturbed and it can only be noticed through lab investigation. Percentagewise, it’s between (90-99) %. No signs and symptoms.
2.Stage Two Kidney Disease. Here, there is mild disturbance of function and only shows through lab investigation. Chemical waste filter ability reduces to about 70-80%. No clear signs and symptoms.
3.Stage three kidney disease (part one and two). At this stage, there is moderate damage to the kidneys leading to moderate loss of function and the kidneys work fine at the first phase with little signs and symptoms. When nothing is done to correct or slow damage, it deteriorates further, which now brings about signs and symptoms in the patient. Waste removal reduced to about 35-45%.
4.Stage four kidney disease. another name for this stage is chronic kidney disease. anything chronic cannot be reversed. So, there is irreversible damage to the kidney, severely reducing its core function. Here, signs and symptoms can be life threatening and patient must get on dialysis machine from time to time to sustain life.
5.Stage Five Kidney Disease. Other names for this stage include; End stage kidney disease and kidney failure. As the two names suggest, the kidney finally ground nearly to a halt; both structurally and functionally. The patient must frequently resort to dialysis care to literally breathe. It gets to a point where life begins to slip off even under constant dialysis. The only better solution in stage 4 and 5 is kidney transplant; otherwise, miracle is needed to keep patient alive for few more years.
Causes of Kidney Disease
In acute kidney failure, a number of factors such as extreme dehydration, severe loss of blood (maybe in RTA) and ingestion of strong chemical, some other comorbidities can shut down the kidney suddenly. Here, if the offending factor(s) are treated or corrected in time, the kidney can regain its full status or function without future problem.
However, in the normal kidney disease that progresses in stages, most of the causes are other chronic disease conditions. A typical one is poorly managed hypertension. Others include diabetes, heart related conditions and direct untreated infection in the kidney or injury.
Prevention of Kidney Disease
As indicated earlier, kidney disease cannot be prevented in health facilities. It is done at home. Kidney disease is obviously one of the lifestyle diseases and therefore requires healthy lifestyle to prevent or minimize the risk.
One must watch choice of food, drink and use of other drugs; herbal preparations, prescription and hard drugs, as the kidney needs to work harder to eliminate chemicals after taking them.
Unfortunately, the country is being exposed to contaminated source of drinking water due to illegal mining activities on water bodies across the country. If possible, avoid drinking water directly from tap and be more careful about cooked food outside.
One of the surest ways to protect your kidney is to do lab investigation once in a while to detect possible minor issues. With this, the individual can be educated on remedial measures to correct effectively at the earliest stage. This, as indicated earlier is due to the fact that progressive, deteriorating kidney disease shows no clear signs and symptoms in the first three stages unless there is severe irreversible damage.
One must properly manage hypertension to avoid developing kidney problem later in life. Make sure urinary tract infections (UTI) are effectively treated early. Delay or improper treatment could extend infection to the kidney, leading to kidney disease.
Management of Kidney Disease
Progressive kidney disease can be slowed down significantly, especially at the early stages where there is mild to moderate kidney damage. This is why I said I have problem with how the disease is being portrayed in the media as if it happens suddenly. People must be encouraged and empowered to put health in check most of the time to avoid diseases in complicated states.
