Overview: 

Chronic kidney disease aka CKD is a condition where there’s a gradual loss of kidney function over a period. In this disease, the kidney is damaged and can’t filter blood the way it functions.

The main risk factors for developing CKD in your body are diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and a family history of kidney failure. 

What are the symptoms of chronic kidney disease?

The symptoms of chronic kidney disease develop over time if kidney injury progresses gradually.  The symptoms of kidney disease are usually non-specified. This means there can also be other illnesses that cause it. Because these all organs can make up for the lost process, that is why you might not develop signs and symptoms until the irreversible injury occurs to you. And hence depending on how drastic it is, the kidney dysfunctioning can cause:

  • Nauseousness
  • Vomiting
  • Loss of appetite
  • Exhaustion and weakness
  • Sleeping issues
  • Urination imbalances 
  • Impaired mental sharpness
  • Muscle spasms
  • Bulging of feet and ankles
  • Dry, itchy skin
  • High blood pressure I.e. hypertension
  • The briefness of breath, if fluid collects in the lungs
  • Chest pain, if liquid collects up around the lining of the heart

What are the causes of chronic kidney disease?

Chronic kidney disease occurs when damage deepens over several months or years. Diseases that affect chronic kidney disease include:

  • Type 1 or type 2 diabetes is a major reason 
  • High blood pressure
  • Glomerulonephritis, a breakout of the kidney’s filtering branch.
  • Interstitial nephritis breakout of the kidney’s tubules and encircling patterns
  • Polycystic kidney disease and other derivative kidney diseases
  • Lengthened resistance of the urinary tract, from situations such as enlarged prostate, kidney stones and some cancers
  • Vesicoureteral reflux is a condition in which the urine flows back to your kidneys
  • Periodic kidney disease aka pyelonephritis 

What are the risk factors of chronic kidney disease?

Factors that influence the risk of chronic kidney disease:

  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart diseases
  • Smoking
  • Obesity
  • Belong from Native America or Asia America
  • Genetical history of kidney disease
  • Unusual kidney pattern
  • Comes in senior citizens categories 
  • Frequently usage of medications that can damage the kidneys

The risk factors differ from human to human including the cautious factors.

What are the drawbacks of chronic kidney disease: 

Chronic kidney disease affects almost every part of your body. Potential complications include:

  • Swelling in your arms and legs can be caused due to fluid retention also can cause high blood pressure, or observation can be done of fluid in your lungs 
  • Immediate potassium levels increase in your blood vessels, which can impair your heart’s function that results in a lesser span of life
  • Anaemia
  • Heart disease
  • Weakness in bones and results in  an increased risk of bone fractures
  • Lessened sex drive, erectile dysfunction or decreased fertility
  • Damage to your CNS, part of the brain which can cause difficulty in concentrating, there may also be a change in  personality  or seizures
  • Decreased immune reaction, which makes you more accessible to infection causes the body to be weaker at this stage.
  • The saclike membrane that envelops your heart is affected by Pericarditis which creates inflammation
  • Pregnancy complications carry risks for the mother and the developing fetus cells.
  • End-stage of kidney disease that is irreversible, eventually expecting either dialysis or a kidney transplant for a longer span of life. 

Chronic Kidney Disease Prevention: 

While it is impossible to ignore chronic kidney disease (CKD) with complete confidence, several measures can be taken to lessen the threat of the disease and its advancement, they are as follows:

  • Smoking
  • Diet balance
  • Alcohol
  • Physical Activity
  • Medications
  • Masking for abnormal kidney function

Treatment: End-stage kidney disease

If your kidneys aren’t cleansing the waste and fluid on their own then you develop complete or last stage of kidney failure, you have end-stage kidney disease. At that point, you need dialysis or a kidney transplant as a treatment for the expansion of your life span.

Dialysis: The process artificially eliminates waste products and additional fluid from your blood when your kidneys no longer can function properly. A process named hemodialysis is in which a machine filters junk and additional liquids from your blood.

A process named peritoneal dialysis is when a thin tube is inserted into your abdomen and fills your abdominal cavity with a dialysis solution which helps in absorbing waste and excess fluids. After a span of periods, the dialysis solution helps in draining waste from your body.

Kidney transplant: This process encompasses surgically spotting a healthy kidney from a donor with your diseased kidney. Transplanted kidneys can be contributed by deceased or living donors.

After a transplant, you’ll need to survive on immunosuppressive medications for the rest of your life to keep your body from the rejection of the new organ in your body. You don’t need to rely on dialysis to have a kidney transplant for life expansion.

Precautions for CKD patients going for surgery 

Several measures can be taken to pre the surgery for CKD, they are as follows:

  • Avoid aspirin that thins the blood, for at least one week before surgery.
  • The day before the surgery, make light meals your priority until noon and then go with the plain liquids.
  • Stay well hydrated; on the day of surgery itself, you should drink plain liquids for two hours straight, before reaching the hospital.  
  • Do not include any heavy food or complex liquids in your diet after mid-day pre-surgery.
  • You will make sure that you have a good bowel movement either the night before or the morning of surgery.  If you have complications with bowel movements start with a clear liquid diet the prior day before surgery and if essential, take a laxative a medication that helps in the release of bowel movement 
  •  Leave home with prior travel time due to the uncertain traffic on the road.

Conclusion: 

People with CKD have an increased and elevated risk of stroke. The risk factor for SCD increases in patients with CKD, and for those with ESKD on dialysis, several factors that increase risk have been identified. Studies are needed to observe and identify risk factors for SCD in CKD for non-dialysis patients.

 

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