Healthy kidneys prevent proteins in the blood stream from spilling into the urine. This is why doctors often first suspect kidney disease when a patient presents with elevated urine protein, or proteinuria. Proteinuria often occurs when the...
Healthy kidneys help eliminate waste and maintain proper fluid volume and electrolyte balance in your body. Your protein intake should not significantly affect blood flow to your kidneys if your kidneys are working properly, but in some cases,...
According to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), 1-in-9 Americans has kidney disease. About 26 million American adults have chronic kidney disease, and millions more are at increased risk. Lack of routine screening makes this problem worse...
A delicate balance exists between digestion of proteins and removal of urea from the body. Protein energizes the body at the price of toxic waste build-up. This waste must be removed for optimum health. The liver and kidneys play a crucial role in...
The kidneys are vital organs that filter the blood and help remove waste and excess water from the body through the urine. If the kidneys become damaged and are unable to filter and reprocess blood, waste may build up in the body and become toxic,...
According to the National Kidney Foundation, one in nine Americans has some form of kidney disease. While some of this disease may be attributed to lifestyle factors, much of it is related to age and genetics. Ethnicity also plays a role as some...
Creatine is a compound naturally created by our body to produce the energy needed for muscle contraction. When your muscles break down creatine, a waste product called creatinine is formed. Your kidneys excrete almost all the creatinine in your...
Unless an obvious cause exists, such as diabetes or hypertension, biopsy proves necessary to determine the cause of kidney damage. Imaging techniques such as electron microscopy and immunofluorescence studies have grown so much so that many cases...
Healthy kidneys clean the blood by removing waste products. Unhealthy kidneys do not do this effectively. In addition to leaving waste products in the blood, they often remove vital proteins. Spilling protein into urine is called proteinuria....
Your GFR, or glomerular filtration rate, is an indicator of how well your kidneys are working. A test estimates how much blood passes through your glomeruli, which are tiny filters in your kidneys, each minute. While a reduction in your kidney...
The purpose of the kidneys is to filter out and process waste from the blood. The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse states that the kidneys process 200 qt. of blood every day and sift out about 2 qt. of waste...
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. According to the 2009 Annual Data Report of the United States Renal Data System, 197,037 of the 527,283 U.S. residents under treatment, or slightly more than 37 percent, needed treatment because of...
Protein is responsible for repairing tissue, manufacturing essential enzymes and hormones, providing energy, and supporting bodily growth. This nutrient can be found in a variety of dietary sources such as meats, milk, nuts, fish and poultry....
Doctors who specialize in treating kidney disease in kids are called pediatric nephrologists. Not only are they specifically attuned to the particular diseases that affect kids, they also consider the effects that treatment and disease have on...
Hematuria, proteinuria and hypertension are red flags for kidney disease. When these symptoms are in combination, doctors immediately begin the diagnostic process for determining what type of kidney disease is present. In some instances, such as...
Scarring of the kidneys is often presumed when there is persistent elevated urine protein, or serum creatinine. However, doctors are often unable to tell the cause of the scarring unless a biopsy is performed. This can be problematic as doctors...
The kidneys function in your body by removing waste and excess water from your blood. Medical professionals calculate the glomerular filtration rate, or GFR, to measure the rate at which your kidneys filter blood waste. If you have a low GFR, you...
Elevated creatine levels in the body are detected through increased creatinine found in the blood or urine through lab testing. Creatine is muscle fuel for the human body. This amino acid is produced by the liver, kidneys and pancreas and obtained...
Kidney disease--also called renal disease--includes an array of different diseases. Some involve structural defects that were present before birth and others are generally not present until early adolescence. Some diseases are very aggressive and...
Research shows that in the United States from 1988 to 2010, the prevalence of chronic renal failure is increasing with poor outcomes for patients and rapidly rising costs. According to a 2009 report from the United States Renal Data System...
Tracking your lab values over time gets to be second nature if you are a kidney patient. By following your creatinine and urine protein levels, you can figure out how the disease is progressing. This information also provide clues as to how much...
When going to the doctor, you may go through a battery of exams to assess your overall health. Kidney tests, especially for individuals with diabetes or hypertension, are important for assessing the health of your kidneys. The National Kidney...
Focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) is a progressive kidney disease that frequently results in renal failure. Nephcure reports that 14.4 percent of all pediatric dialysis patients have FSGS. It is the second leading cause of kidney...
Diabetes mellitus adversely affects several organs in the body. The abnormality in carbohydrate metabolism that leads to persistently high levels of blood glucose and the coexisting high levels of fat in the blood cause considerable damage to...
According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 20 million Americans have chronic kidney disease, with millions more at an increased risk. One way to help to prevent kidney conditions before they even start is through diet, especially since...
Kidney stones are one of the most common urinary tract disorders, causing about 3 million doctor visits each year, according to the National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, or NKUDIC. Stones are a complication for 1 in...
Healthy kidneys cleanse the excess fluid, minerals and other bodily waste products collected by the blood by producing urine. They also help balance the volume of electrolytes and regulate the pH range in the body. Furthermore, the kidneys release...
The kidneys are a vital organ because they remove waste products from the blood. Impairment leads to buildup of these waste products. If impairment continues unchecked, it leads to kidney failure and death. According to the National Kidney...
The kidneys, a set of vital organs, function as filters by removing unwanted waste from the body in the form of urine. According to the National Kidney Foundation, these organs also control acid content and calcium metabolism, balance fluids and...
