Kidney failure or renal failure, is a serious medical condition that arises when kidneys are not able to filter the body waste and excess fluid from the blood. This builds up harmful toxins and chemicals damaging body at different levels and creating complications that may prove highly detrimental for your health in more than one way.
Kidney failure symptom may be confused with other regular diseases or health conditions as they are mostly the signs that people may observe in many health situations and medical cases. However, if more of the suggested signs exist together and don’t go away easily, high chance it may signal toward kidney failure.
As we talk about kidney failure, it may show up with different symptoms including the most common signs like a decrease in urine output to no conditions where the person may complain of shortness of breath and high blood pressure.
In addition to these, there are several other symptoms that may be indicative of kidney failure.
Here Are the Various Signs to Look for to Identify Kidney Failure:
1. Fatigue and weakness:
Kidney failure can cause a buildup of toxins and waste products in the body. This can make you feel weary and frail at moments. You may also experience muscle cramps and difficulty concentrating.
2. Itchy skin:
A buildup of waste products in the body can also cause itching and dry skin. This symptom can occur when a patient is exposed to prolonged kidney disease or have an aggravated renal condition.
3. Swelling:
When a person is suffering renal failure, they can have excess fluid building up in the body, leading to swelling in the hands, feet, and ankles. This is known as edema and mostly occurs in the early stages if a person is heading toward kidney failure.
4. Shortness of breath:
As the fluid builds up in the body, it can also accumulate in the lungs, leading to difficulty breathing and shortness of breath. This may be seen quite commonly in most patients when they hit a certain stage of the ailment.
5. Nausea and vomiting:
Kidney failure can cause an accumulation of waste in the body, which can make you experience sickness and feel like vomiting. Most patients may see associated symptoms like fatigue, weakness, and loss of appetite.
6. Loss of appetite:
A buildup of waste fluids and chemical deposits in the body can cause a loss of appetite and weight loss. This symptom is most common in patients who are on dialysis.
7. Confusion and disorientation:
In severe cases, the growth and accumulation of toxins in the body can affect brain function, which may lead to a sense of misperception and disorientation in the patients.
8. High blood pressure:
Renal disorders are often associated with increased blood pressure at later stages and can further damage the kidneys and lead to other fatal complications and disorders.
Here, you need to see that the symptoms mentioned above can be indicative of other conditions as well. So, it’s important to consult a medical practitioner or healthcare professional if you experience any of these symptoms.
There are several risk factors associated with renal complications that can increase your chances of developing kidney failure. These include:
1. Diabetes:
Diabetes is one of the foremost causes of kidney failure and other medical conditions, as it can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys and lead to renal disorder.
2. High blood pressure:
High blood pressure is one of the common health disorders found in many people and has a bad impact on renal blood vessels. It leads to declining kidney health and retiring renal function over time.
3. Age:
As you get older, your kidneys may stop functioning well. The age effect along with another lifestyle factor may further aggravate the conditions.
4. Family history:
If you have a family history of kidney disease or kidney failure, you may be at increased risk of kidney failure.
5. Smoking:
Smoking can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys, leading to decreased kidney function over time.
6. Obesity:
Obesity can increase your risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which can lead to kidney failure.
Treatments That are Available for Fatal Kidney Conditions
The treatments for kidney failure are mainly divided into two different applications, one is the conservative management and another one is renal replacement therapy.
The conservative management may include dietary changes to limit protein, sodium, potassium, and phosphorus intake. Also, it may have prescribed medication to lower blood pressure, control blood sugar levels, and manage anemia besides of course revitalizing the organ.
In the advanced procedure, the patient may undergo dialysis, which is essentially a medical procedure that uses a machine to filter waste products from the blood when the kidneys are no longer able to do so.
If none of these treatments work, the only way for a patient to survive kidney failure is through kidney transplant, which is a surgical procedure that involves replacing a damaged kidney with a healthy kidney from a donor. Always go for the kidney Specialist when you need treatment.
In conclusion
If you observe any of the aforementioned kidney failure symptoms these should be seen as high-risk factors against kidney health. You should consider managing your blood sugar and blood pressure levels, having a healthy diet regime, maintaining an ideal weight, quitting smoking, and getting regular check-ups done by a medical practitioner who has proven expertise in the discipline.