Early Symptoms of Kidney Disease

According to medical surveys, in the United States, about 26 million people suffer from the chronic form of kidney disease. The condition gets more serious if accompanied by diabetes, or any heart disease.

An early diagnosis of the condition can do a great deal in keeping it from progressing into life-threatening kidney failure. And this is where symptoms play an important part. But unfortunately, most kidney diseases do not exhibit any early symptoms, at least not until extensive damage is done.

Any disorder related to the way the kidney functions usually shows up in the form of malfunction(s) in the urinary system. The patient might feel a constant urge to urinate during nighttime, and may find it difficult to urinate at all, at times.

There might occur what is known as hematuria (blood in urine) and the urine may be foamy or bubbly in appearance. Some patients might urinate in greater amounts than usual, while some may urinate less often, and in lesser quantity. Urine may be pale or dark in color.

Fatigue is another common symptom. The reason it occurs is the kidneys' inability to produce erythropoietin. When erythropoietin is not produced in appropriate quantity, it causes a dearth in the number of oxygen carrying red blood cells. This causes the brain and the muscles to suffer quick exhaustion thus, resulting in extreme fatigue.

The low count of red blood cells may result in anemia, and this may cause the affected person to feel cold even in a warm weather. Not only this, anemia may further result in bouts of other problems, such as memory loss, trouble with concentration and dizziness.

Kidney disease hinders the function of the organ to remove wastes from the bloodstream. This results in the accumulation of wastes, which becomes evident with the occurrence of severe itching or in some cases, skin rashes. This build up of wastes in the blood may also lead to nausea or vomiting.

One of the important functions which the kidneys do for the body, is getting rid of excess fluid. So, it is certain that an unhealthy kidney system becomes inefficient to remove this excess fluid, and allows it to get accumulated. This results in symptoms such as swelling in the legs, feet, face, hands and ankles.

It is common to hear patients complain against pain in the back, or side where the affected kidney is located. Some kidney diseases might result in the formation of cysts filled with fluid in the kidneys or the liver, and these trigger the pain.

The extra fluid which the kidney is unable to get rid of, can get accumulated in the lungs. This may cause shortness of breath. This may also be caused due to anemia, which may leave the body to starve for enough oxygen.

People often complain against having a metallic taste in mouth, when they are suffering from any kidney disease. They also suffer from bad breath. These occur due to the build up of wastes in the blood.

Factors which may contribute to the development of kidney diseases include diabetes, high blood pressure, nephritis (an inflammation of the kidney), anatomic disorders of the kidney, and hardening of the arteries. Other causes include metabolic disorders which interfere with the working of the organs, prostate problems and certain medications.

The treatment is governed by the type of disorder, its cause and severity of the condition. Addressing or managing the cause of the illness is the primary motive of the treatment.

Antibiotics for kidney infection, corticosteroids for immune disorder, diuretic medications for the body to excrete more water, etc., are among the different methods employed for the treatment. In some cases, medications for treating high blood pressure could also be included in the treatment.

In severe cases such as kidney failure, dialysis or kidney transplantation are the options taken up by doctors.

It is needless to say that symptoms are the first point of identification of any disease. And as mentioned, most problems of kidneys do not have early manifestations thus, delaying diagnosis and treatment. That is why, regular health checkups is necessary for people with a history of kidney disease or who are prone to the same.