It sounds scary when you hear the words renal failure, but what does it mean to the average person without a medical degree? In laymen’s terms, renal failure means that your kidneys have failed.
Your kidneys fail when they can no longer function to act as filters to remove the toxins and waste products collected in the bloodstream as it travels around the circulatory system removing toxins, dead cells, pathogens, chemicals and carbon dioxide, to name a few things.
Kidney failure happens when the kidneys enter the final end-stage called chronic kidney disease or ‘end-stage kidney disease.’ End-stage kidney failure occurs when around 90% of the kidney function has been lost. In end-stage renal disease, your kidneys are no longer able to do their job and filter your blood causing toxicity levels to build and the systemic failure of other vital organs when they are forced to shut down because they can’t function in the toxic environment of your heavily polluted circulatory system.
Acute kidney failure is a sudden drop in kidney function that can develop quickly over a few hours or days and occurs in people who are predominantly already critically ill or who have other vital organs systemically shutting down for different reasons, and the kidney failure is a secondary or subsequent step in the chain reaction taking place inside the body.
What Are The Three Common Symptoms Of Kidney Failure
Acute kidney failure can include:
- decreased amount of urine exiting the body
- fluid retention and oedema causing swelling all over the body
- confusion, nausea, and kidney pain or pain in the lower back region
Chronic kidney failure may include:
- tiredness, weakness, nausea, vomiting
- itching, restless legs
- breathlessness at rest
- high blood pressure that can’t be controlled
- night-time urination and bed wetting
- Any or all of the symptoms of acute kidney failure
If you notice any such symptoms, see your doctor immediately. Diabetes can share several signs and symptoms with failing kidneys, and both conditions require correct diagnoses and treatment as both have the potential to be deadly and take life suddenly if left untreated.
Watch a video presentation on renal failure here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHyyxsk0ND4
What Is The Most Common Cause Of Renal Failure
Acute kidney failure routinely affects hospitalised patients because they are already gravely ill and have other system complications that mean all of the body’s vital systems have been compromised in some way. It can also suddenly become a life and death issue for a perfectly healthy person on certain medications for osteoporosis and blood pressure, undergoing chemotherapy, imaging dyes and taking antibiotics.
The most common cause of chronic kidney disease in Australia is diabetes, high blood pressure or inflammation of the kidneys. Some genetic factors may play a small part, and living a lifestyle that forces the kidneys to overwork can lead to them simply wearing out faster than they can be repaired.
What Is The Treatment For Renal Failure
Options for kidney failure treatment will depend on the stage of kidney disease at the time of diagnosis. There is no ‘cure’ for kidney disease per se, but there are three common treatment options available at present, with work in the genetic and robotic fields flying along at an accelerated pace, lending some hope to future patients:
- A kidney transplant. The diseased kidney is replaced with a healthy kidney from a kidney donor who is a suitable match. One kidney does not fit all, so finding the right donor can be difficult in the amount of time left for the person in acute renal failure. A healthy kidney is valued at around $30,000 – $50,000 US on the black market. Humans are born with two (2) kidneys but only require one functioning kidney to live a happy, healthy lifestyle. Family members are often unsuitable donor matches due to differences in blood type.
- Dialysis uses a machine to remove the extra fluid from your blood and filter out the waste products. Dialysis is only a short-term measure while a donor kidney is being searched for. People needing transplant organs are placed on an organ donor list and go through hell in the hopes that someone who lost their life is the perfect match to donate the required organ that will allow them to continue living. Sadly, not everyone gets a donor organ in time. However, where their other organs are healthy, they may decide to become organ donors themselves and go on to save many other people waiting on donor lists across the country.
- Palliative care means providing all the health care, pain relief, and support possible but not attempting to cure the kidney failure by letting things run their natural course. In this option, the person with kidney failure has chosen to die the way nature intended without any intervention from external sources.
- It is important to note that no two people are the same, no two cases are the same, and not everyone can be saved, even if they go to the expense of fighting the disease with a donor’s kidney. Sometimes kidney transplants will fail, or the body will reject the donated kidney, and no amount of medication will correct the situation.
- As hard as it is to accept, death is the end result for every living thing in the cycle of life, but it doesn’t have to be for nothing. One healthy organ and tissue donor can help save and transform the lives of more than ten (10) people. That is one selfless and heroic way to exit this life!
What Are The Best Foods For Kidney Health
- Dark leafy greens. Dark leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach, chard, and collard greens are loaded with vitamins A and C, calcium, and many other important minerals necessary for optimal kidney health.
- Berries.
- Cranberries.
- Sweet potatoes.
- Olive oil.
- Fatty fish like Salmon high in Omega 3
- Cabbage, sauerkraut, kimchi and probiotic foods.
Can your kidneys repair themselves
Yes. Contrary to long-held beliefs, a new study shows that kidneys have the capacity to regenerate themselves. New research shows that the kidneys are regenerating and repairing themselves throughout life at the same rate all other organs shed cells and regenerate over the course on a lifetime.
That being said, the rate of repair does not allow for kidneys in the state of chronic kidney failure to regenerate fast enough to prevent death or repair the kidneys.
First Aid Skills Are For Life
The good news is that you don’t have to be on your deathbed to save lives! There are several ways in which you can actively gain nationally recognised First Aid certification and, with that knowledge, potentially save a life or administer First Aid that prevents a situation from deteriorating into the fatal realm.
We all take life for granted, and as part of that, we live in a country where most of us have easy access to multiple doctors or nurse practitioners when something goes wrong. But how do we know something is wrong, and could we have worked it out sooner if we knew what the signs and symptoms were to recognise a problem before it becomes a problem? The answer is yes!
Discover a world of First Aid knowledge on our FACE Blog page to motivate, educate and inspire you to action.
Taking an accredited First Aid and CPR course with First Aid Course Experts is easy.
For less than $100.00 and from the comfort of your own home, you can undertake your chosen First Aid course in several ways that best suit your needs and schedule. Visit our website to view the next available course at a location near you.
Learn from our amazing trainers as they teach you the skills and knowledge to save a life, treat emergencies, and use around the home and office where a visit to the doctor isn’t necessary but First Aid treatment is required. Applying a Band-Aid and giving pain relief is an act of providing First Aid, so knowing how to do it correctly and in the most up-to-date way has to be considered essential in any home or workplace.
