What are Kidneys?

The kidneys are 2 bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are found in your back on either side of the spine. Healthy kidneys clean waste products from the blood by making urine. They also balance the amount of certain elements in your blood (such as sodium, potassium, and calcium), and make hormones that control blood pressure and red blood cells.

What is Kidney Failure?

Kidney (renal) failure is when kidneys don't work as well as they should. The term "kidney failure" covers a lot of problems. These problems can result in kidney failure:

• Your kidney doesn't get enough blood to filter
• Your kidney is hurt by a disease like
• high blood sugar (diabetes)
• high blood pressure
• glomerulonephritis (damage to the kidney's tiny filters)
• polycystic kidney disease
• Your kidney is blocked by a kidney stone or scar tissue

Symptoms

The symptoms can differ based on how bad the kidney failure is, how quickly it is getting worse, and what is causing it.

There are 2 main types of kidney (renal) failure:  acute (sudden) and chronic (over time).

Acute Renal Failure – ARF

ARF occurs when the kidneys suddenly stop filtering waste products from the blood.

The signs of ARF can be:

• swelling of the hands, feet and face (edema)
• internal bleeding
• confusion
• seizures
• coma
• abnormal blood and urine tests
• high blood pressure

Chronic Renal Failure – CRF

CRF builds slowly with very few symptoms in its early stages.

A patient with CRF may not have any symptoms until kidney function declines to 20% or less. At that stage, these signs may appear:

• abnormal blood and urine tests
• high blood pressure
• weight loss for no reason
• low red blood cell count (anemia)
• nausea
• vomiting
• metal taste in your mouth
• loss of appetite
• shortness of breath
• chest pains
• numbness and tingling
• confusion
• coma
• seizures
• easy bruising
• itching
• fatigue
• headaches
• muscle twitches and cramps
• weak bones that break easily
• yellow-brown skin color
• itching
• swelling of the hands, feet and face (edema)
• trouble sleeping

Causes

ARF is most likely to happen with:

• low blood flow (such as after complicated surgery or an accident)
• swelling of the kidney (such as a reaction to a drug or infection)
• sudden blockage (such as by a kidney stone)
• very high blood pressure

With ARF, the kidney often returns to normal or near normal after the cause is treated.

CRF is permanent loss of kidney function. The most common causes are:

• high blood pressure
• chronic glomerulonephritis (kidney damage)
• high blood sugar (diabetes)
• polycystic kidney disease
• blocked urinary tract
• kidney infection

Diagnosis

Kidney failure is most often found with a blood test called a "creatinine level." Creatinine is a molecule made by your muscles. A normal kidney will remove extra creatinine from the blood stream and get rid of it in urine. More creatinine in the blood is a sign that the kidneys aren't cleaning the blood as well as they should. This test can spot something is wrong before a patient with kidney failure feels sick.