Kidney Disease

To reduce kidney disease starts with better health. Specially what you eat can play vital role in kidney health. Those who are at risk for kidney disease can be those with diabetes, high blood...

Diabetes and other conditions that impair your immune system are risk factors for kidney infections. Diabetes can also cause nerve damage, and if the nerves around the bladder are damaged, you may...

Acute renal insufficiency is a rapid loss of kidney function that occurs suddenly. Another term for this condition is acute renal failure. Identifying this condition early makes it possible to...

BUN and creatinine tests are done to monitor kidney function. If blood levels of these substances are high, kidney disease may be present. Test results can also be used to diagnose other medical...

Kidney disease makes it difficult for the kidneys to maintain fluid and electrolyte balances and filter waste products from the body. GFR is a useful measurement that describes how well a...

Creatinine is a waste product that is produced during protein breakdown. The creatinine blood test determines how much of this substance is in the blood. The results are used to determine how...

Renal dialysis, or kidney dialysis, uses a hemodialysis machine to treat patients with kidney failure. Dialysis is performed on a patient's blood to remove wastes, fluids and salts, and return the...

Your kidneys are essential to your survival. Among other things, the kidneys remove waste products and drugs from the body, help regulate blood pressure and the production of red blood cells, as...

Polycystic kidney disease results when cysts form in the kidneys, eventually enlarging the kidneys and reducing kidney function, often leading to kidney failure. The truth is that there is...

Your body produces a substance called creatine to store energy. When the creatine metabolizes it produces a waste know as creatinine. When the creatinine is released, it is carried into the...

Nephrologists are medical specialists that treat diseases affecting the kidneys. Several drug products are used by nephrologists to treat the symptoms of kidney conditions and improve the quality...

Dialysis is a treatment that is given to patients experiencing kidney failure. The procedure is used to help filter wastes and other materials from the blood, a function the kidneys are...

Artificial kidney is a colloquial name for a hemodialysis machine. In someone who has suffered kidney failure, an artificial kidney filters the blood, preforming the function that the patient's...

Typically, a person keeps their potassium level normal by eating a healthy diet full of leafy greens, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas and mushrooms. The body uses potassium to control blood pressure...

Dialysis is a laboratory technique used to simulate the essential benefits of normal kidney function. Dialysis is employed after a person suffers renal failure.

Dialysis is a common way to treat kidney failure. It entails using a machine to process waste much like a healthy kidney would do. Though generally well-tolerated, there are some risks involved in...

Renal disease, also called kidney disease, is damage to the kidneys affecting their ability to function properly. The disease normally progresses over time and may not become apparent until...

A "creatine test" is actually the misnomer for a procedure called the "creatinine test," which tests the levels of creatinine (i.e., the compound formed when the human body metabolizes creatine)...

An important way to stay on top of your kidney functioning is to visit the doctor for the appropriate testing. Kidney-functioning tests will give your doctor a sense of whether your kidneys are...

Although medical advances in lathroscopic surgery have made many types of kidney surgeries more routine and less invasive, most kidney surgeries are nonetheless fairly major procedures....

Venofer is a brand name for a prescription injection that contains iron sucrose. Doctors prescribe Venofer for the treatment of anemia in patients with kidney disease.

Electrolytes in your system have an electrical charge which helps to keep your body processes running smoothly. When these are out of balance, it affects many of your body's processes, including...

Dialysis is used to treat people with kidney failure. According to the Mayo Clinic, hundreds of thousands of people use dialysis to keep healthy when dealing with permanent kidney failure. The...

Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) makes the heart work harder, which stresses blood vessels. The kidneys contain waste-filtering glomeruli (tiny blood vessels). When damaged, they lose...

An arterial blood gas test, or blood gas test for short, typically involves using a needle to draw blood from the radical artery in the wrist, the brachial artery of the arm or the femoral artery...

Internally located in the lower back region of the body is a double fist-sized filtering system in the shape of two kidney beans, known as kidneys. The kidneys filter about 50 gallons of blood...

Your kidneys are powerful chemical factories that perform life-sustaining functions for your body. They remove waste products and drugs from the body, balance the body's fluids, release hormones...

People with kidney disease are susceptible to developing anemia. This happens because the kidneys are unable to produce the hormone erythropoietin, which is responsible for telling your body to...

Have you ever provided a urine sample to your doctor during an annual checkup ? Did you wonder what tests the laboratory performs on urine samples and what the results indicate? A white blood cell...

Blood in the urine, or hematuria, can occur on two levels: microscopic or gross hematuria. The causes can range from strenuous exercise to seemingly spontaneous bleeding.

Your kidneys perform three important functions. They maintain the pH fluid balance of the acidity and alkalinity. Also, they regulate your water balance and remove metabolic waste products from...

If you are a kidney patient, getting the proper nutrition is essential for daily health and preventing malnutrition. Kidney patients must eat a sensible diet as designed by a renal dietitian, so...

A liver hemangioma is a tangled mass of poorly formed blood vessels that occurs in the liver. It is typically benign, and may not even be discovered unless a patient is undergoing a procedure or...

Your kidneys, located below your rib cage and near the middle of your back, are on each side of your spine. When your kidneys are working normally they can process approximately 200 quarts of...

Kidney dialysis is a procedure used when your kidneys no longer work properly. The kidneys clean your blood and produce hormones that strengthen bones. Kidneys fail because of injury or disease,...

Though diet and dialysis are the main treatment options for renal failure, medication is also sometimes used to treat and prevent symptoms associated with the condition. When your kidneys fail,...

Renal failure occurs when the kidneys are no longer able to remove wastes and fluids from the blood. Renal failure can occur over a period of days, months or years, according to the American...

Diabetes, a medical condition that prevents your body from properly using insulin, can injure the blood vessels in your kidneys. According to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), this negatively...

The kidneys are responsible for filtering the blood and maintaining it free from toxins and additional waste products. Kidneys also control the appropriate quality and amount of blood. For various...

Water-soluble waste products and toxins are filtered out of the blood by the kidneys. These chemicals are then excreted in the urine. This makes the kidneys important in maintaining good health...

Urinary tract infections are detected at the clinical laboratory by through chemical analysis of the urine and microscopic confirmation. To counteract the infection, white blood cells migrate to...

The kidneys are integral to your health. They are responsible for creating urine and assisting our bodies in excreting wastes, among other things. Keeping your kidneys functioning and healthy is...

Chronic Renal Insufficiency is a condition wherein the kidneys are gradually damaged by a disease or disorder. Specifically, the damage, as with IgA Nephropathy, is incurred upon the glomuli in...

Renal cancer is also known as kidney cancer. The American Cancer Society says that more than 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with the disease each year. There are several factors that can affect an...

Blood filtration is a critical process in the general maintenance of the mammalian body. Unfortunately, the kidneys are vulnerable to a condition called acute glomerulonephritis, which is an...

Hemoglobin is protein located in red blood cells that gives blood its red appearance. OhioHealth.com states that the typical range for hemoglobin count in men is roughly 14 to 17 g/dL, while 12 to...

Proteins are nutrients necessary for the structure of cells, tissues and organs, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Low blood protein or protein deficiency is typically a...

The kidneys function to balance electrolytes and minerals such as sodium that enter the body, with healthy kidneys able to distinguish and eliminate high levels of sodium as waste through urine.

Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, or FSGS, occurs when scarring impairs the kidney's ability to filter blood. People with a family member who has FSGS face a higher risk of developing this...

Alcohol abuse can affect all parts of the body including the kidneys. The exact means of how alcohol changes the kidneys' ability to perform are not fully understood. However, alcohol has the...