Your kidneys are the organs that are located towards the lower part of your back, on either side of your spine. These organs are responsible for filtering the blood and removing toxins from the body. The kidneys send the toxins into your bladder, and your body removes them eventually during urination. Kidney can happen when a person’s kidneys are unable to filter waste from your blood properly. Your body gradually becomes overloaded with the accumulating toxins, and this means that kidney failure can eventually be fatal if untreated.

Understanding What Is Kidney Failure – Causes

One of the most likely reasons your kidneys will fail is a sudden loss of blood to your kidneys. Some conditions that can cause this loss of blood are heart attacks, scarring of the liver, heart disease, dehydration, severe burns, allergic reactions, and severe infections. Blood pressure medications may also limit blood flow. Other causes of kidney failure may be linked to the inability to eliminate urine. When the body can’t get rid of urine, toxins overload the kidneys. For instance, some cancers might block the urine passageways and lead to kidney failure. Other urinary-based kidney problems might include:

– Damage to the nerves around the bladder
– Blood clots in the urinary tract
– An enlarged prostate

Other factors that might cause kidney failure range from certain antibiotics, to the use of drugs and alcohol, infection, overload of toxins in the blood, multiple myelomas, and more.

Understanding What Is Kidney Failure – Signs and Symptoms

There are many different signs and symptoms that can commonly be associated with kidney failure. Sometimes, people won’t have any symptoms at all, but most people with kidney failure will experience a few signs of the disease, including:

– Reduced amount of urine
– Swelling in the feet, ankles, legs, and other areas from the retention of fluid
– Unexplained fatigue and drowsiness
– Nausea
– Seizures
– Confusion
– Chest pain
– Coma

Understanding What Is Kidney Failure – Treatment Options

There are a range of different treatment options available for people suffering from kidney failure, but the type of treatment that you receive will often vary according to the reason for your kidney problem. Your health professional should be able to help you figure out the best treatment option, which may include dialysis.

Dialysis is a process that is used to purify and filter the blood in a person’s body using a special machine. The machine performs the standard functions of the kidneys, and depending on the type of dialysis, you might be connected to a portable catheter bag, or large machine. A low-salt and low-potassium diet is often prescribed alongside dialysis.

An alternative to dialysis, and potentially the only way to cure kidney failure is with a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, there is often a long wait to receive a compatible donor kidney. The advantage to this treatment is that the new kidney usually works perfectly and dialysis will no longer be needed. However, you will need to take immunosuppressant drugs for the remainder of your life, and will have to undergo major surgery for your kidney replacement.