Chronic Kidney Disease
Kidneys are a vital organ within your body. To be diagnosed with chronic kidney disease means that the usual function of your kidneys is no longer apparent as they may be working at a reduced level compared to normal. Having chronic kidney disease could also mean that you are more susceptible to other illnesses such as heart disease or stroke.
You have two kidneys within your body which are bean shaped. They are located behind your intestines; the reason why they are a vital organ within your body is because they clean out any waste from the bloodstream, they also help to stabilise your blood pressure levels and provide your body with a hormone to help with red bloods cells which are needed to stop people becoming anaemic if you do not eat enough red meat or have enough vitamins in your body.
The word chronic to some people may mean severe, the word chronic actually means that whatever illness it is referring to is a long term illness and could be both mild or sever. A lot of people do suffer from chronic kidney disease on a very mild basis and there is a test which can determine the level of function of your kidneys called the GFR. There are various different stages which can be identified through such testing and the lower the GFR count is the more severe the kidney disease is. About one in ten people suffer from CKD and likely to occur in people aged over fifty. People may not realise straight away that are suffering from such disease as there may be no symptoms however to catch the disease sooner rather than later to receive the appropriate treatment. If your kidneys are not functioning to their full capacity it may lead to swelling in the body, for example some people’s ankles start to swell but it could affect other parts of the body also. It can also leave you feeling very tired as your kidneys are not producing the needed hormone to carry oxygen around the body. It can lead to many other symptoms but each person is different to the next and therefore may or may not suffer any symptoms, and if so could be completely different to one another. People can go between the different stages identified, someone my go from stage two to stage three but then go back to stage two which is not to concerning as long as it does not keep getting worse.
No matter what illness you may have, it is always advisable to contact or go see your GP as they may be able to help you or even just slow down the progression of the disease. This may then also help prevent another illness occurring due to CKD and by keeping an eye on the kidney function will help then to adapt any treatment needed to control such a disease. Blood or urine tests may also be conducted to show any abnormalities also.