In medical terminology, renal refers to the kidney, and renal failure is a kidney failure.A kidney consists of two bean-shaped organs, each approximately the size of a fist. They are situated at the backside, one on each side of the spine. Healthful rentals remove waste materials from the body by producing urine. They also regulate some aspects of your blood (such as sodium, potassium, and calcium) and produce hormones that deal with your blood pressure and red blood cell production.ac
What is Renal Failure?
In medical terminology, renal refers to the kidney, and renal failure is a kidney failure. When one or both kidneys do not function properly, it is called kidney failure (also known as renal failure). Renal failure can sometimes be a temporary and sudden condition.
On the other hand, it can also be a chronic condition that slowly deteriorates over time. It occurs when the renal do not work efficiently, causing waste materials to accumulate in the body. Having a sick feeling is one of the symptoms of this condition. Depending on the severity of the situation, renal failure may be deadly mortal; however, many people can handle the disease with the proper cure.
Types of Renal Failure
There are five distinct kinds of renal failure. Chronic renal failure occurs over time, as opposed to acute renal failure, when you suddenly lose the capability to use your kidneys properly. The five kinds of renal failure are explained below:
- Acute Prerenal Kidney Failure: There is an increased risk of acute prerenal kidney failure if inadequate blood flow to the renals. Without adequate blood flow, the renals will not be able to remove toxins from the blood. Once the reason for the inadequate blood flow to the kidneys has been identified, kidney failure is usually curable.
- Acute Intrinsic Renal Failure: There are several causes of acute intrinsic renal failure, including direct damage to the renals, physical collision, or an accident. The other reasons for kidney failure involve contagion overload and ischemia, which refers to oxygen deficiency in the renals. Several factors can cause ischemia, which provides for excess bleeding, traumatism, blockage of the kidney blood vessels, and glomerulonephritis. The small blood vessels in your renals become swelled.
- Chronic Prerenal Kidney Failure: If there is an inadequate blood supply to your rentals for a long time, your rentals will contract, and you will lose the capability to function.
- Chronic Intrinsic Renal Failure: It occurs when the kidneys become damaged over a long period due to intrinsic renal disease. This type of renal disease is caused by direct injury to the renals, such as extreme bleeding or insufficient oxygen to the kidneys.
- Chronic Post-Renal Kidney Failure: The urinary tract obstruction can cause long-term obstruction, preventing urination, resulting in pressure in the kidneys that eventually cause kidney failure.
Causes of Renal Failure
Diabetes and high blood pressure are two of the utmost usual causes of renal failure. However, kidney failure may also occur suddenly because of an unforeseeable cause. When the renals stop working suddenly (within a few hours or days), it’s called acute renal failure. Acute renal failure is usually short term and can be caused by many different things, such as:
- Various forms of auto-immune kidney disease.
- Extreme Dehydration.
- Different Medications.
- Obstruction of the urinary tract.
- Uncontrolled systemic diseases such as heart disease or liver disease.
In most cases, kidney failure does not occur overnight. Chronic kidney disease consists of several health situations that impair kidney function over the long term. If chronic kidney disease is not treated, it can eventually lead to kidney failure.
The following factors most commonly cause chronic renal disease;
- Diabetes: Uncontrolled diabetes can result in unrestrained blood sugar levels. Persistent high blood sugar can cause harm to the body’s organs, including the rentals.
- Hypertension: In elevated blood pressure (hypertension), blood passes through your body’s blood vessels with great pressure. Not treated, high blood pressure levels may eventually injure the renal’s tissues.
Among the other causes of chronic renal disease are;
- Polycystic Kidney Disease: A genetic situation in which cysts (fluid-filled sacs) develop inside the renals.
- Glomerular diseases: Glomerular disorders such as glomerulonephritis influence the renal’s ability to filter waste materials.
- Lupus: Diseases caused by the immune system, such as Lupus, also affect kidney
Symptoms of Renal Failure
There may be no noticeable symptoms in the early stages of kidney failure. However, as kidney disease progresses, possible symptoms may include:
- Fatigue: A healthy kidney secretes an erythropoietin hormone, which directs your body to produce oxygen-transit red blood cells. When the renals fail, they have inadequate , and with lessen red blood cells to transit oxygen, your muscles and brain are exhausted very swiftly. This condition is called anaemia, and it is curable.
- Feeling of coldness: If you suffer from anemia, you may feel icy-cold all the time, even in a summery environment.
- Shortness of breath: Shortness of breath can be connected to the renals in two distinct ways. Firstly, extraneous fluids in the body can lead to fluid buildup in the lungs. Secondly, anemia (a deficiency in oxygen-transit red blood cells) can leave your body oxygen-deprived and shortness of breath.
- Weakness: If you have anemia associated with kidney failure, your brain may not receive enough oxygen, leading to feelings of weakness, dizziness, and faintness.
- Itchiness: Wastes are removed from the bloodstream by the kidneys, and when the renals break down, a buildup of extravagance in the blood can become the reason of extreme itching.
- Swelling: When your renals fail, extraneous fluid accumulates in your body, causing inflammation in your face, legs, ankles, hands, and feet.
- Loss of Appetite: An accumulation of waste products in the blood (called uremia) may affect food taste and lead to unpleasant breath. Also, you may observe that you no longer enjoy eating meat or that you are losing weight because you are not hungry.
- Nausea and Vomiting: The accumulation of extravagance products in the blood (uremia) can also lead to nausea and vomiting. A loss of hunger may also result in weight loss.
- Frequent Urination: The kidneys produce urine, so when the renals fail, the urine may change. Your urinary flow may be more frequent or more intense than normal. Your urine may be pale, and you may feel force or have trouble urinating.
- Foamy Urine: The urine may be frothy or fizzy, which can cause an elevated level of protein in the urine.
Urine Colors
The color of your urine indicates the health of your body. It does not give you much information about your kidney function until the damage progresses. Nevertheless, urine color changes may be a warning sign of certain health conditions.
- Pale Yellow: If your urine is clear without any cloudiness or pale yellow, you are competently hydrated, and this is the perfect color in most instances.
- Dark Yellow: Amber or dark yellow urine indicates dehydration. Drink more water and reduce your dark sodas, tea, and coffee consumption.
- Orange: It may be a symptom of water deficiency, or it may be a symptom of bile in the bloodstream. Renal disease is not typically the reason of this condition.
- Pink or Red: Urine with a pink shade or a hint of red could contain blood. The condition may also be because of some foods, such as beets or strawberries. A urine test can determine the contrast.
- Foamy: Having excessive bubbles in the urine shows that it contains a large amount of protein. An excessive amount of protein in urine indicates kidney disease.
Treatment of Renal Failure
Treatment options for kidney failure depend on the reason and severity of the condition. Treating your chronic medical situation can help detain the development of renal disease. Your doctor may use one or more techniques to monitor your health situation if your rentals lose their function gradually. To maintain the function of your rentals for as long as possible, your doctor will monitor you closely.
You may be assessed by your physician based on:
- Regular blood tests.
- Blood Pressure checks.
- Medicines: Since the renals serve an essential function, patients with renal failure require treatment to stay alive. Treatment options include.
- Dialysis: This treatment helps clean the blood (the duty that the renals cannot do). There are two kinds of dialysis.
- Hemodialysis: Hemodialysis involves the regular cleaning of your blood by a machine.
- Peritoneal Dialysis: In peritoneal dialysis, a soft plastic tube (catheter) is injected into your abdomen through surgery. With this catheter, sterile cleansing fluid is administered to your abdomen. During the cleaning procedure, the fluid leaves your body through the catheter.
- Kidney Transplant: A healthy kidney is implanted in your body to replace your damaged organs in a kidney transplant. A healthy kidney, commonly referred to as a benefactor organ, may come from a dead benefactor or a living individual, such as a family member or close friend. It is possible to live well with one healthy kidney.
References:
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17689-kidney-failure retrieved on April 15, 2022.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/kidney-failure#types retrieved on April 15, 2022.
- https://lifeoptions.org/learn-about-kidney-disease/kidney-disease-symptoms/ retrieved on April 15, 2022.
