Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a decrease in kidney function to the point they no longer properly filter the blood. The main causes of CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure. Seeing a Family Medical Clinic in Andover Kansas is the first step in diagnosing and treating this issue.
What is CKD?
Chronic kidney disease refers to the more or less significant reduction in kidney function, whatever the cause. The kidneys lose their ability to properly filter blood. Kidney failure is said to be chronic when the kidney disease involved is irreversible, with no possibility of a cure.
This is opposed to acute renal failure, due to a sudden and reversible attack of the kidneys, during a serious infection, for example. In this case, the kidneys return to their normal functioning after, if necessary, dialysis is performed. A chronic renal disease is a long-term silent disease that progresses slowly and does not regress.
Its natural evolution is more or less slow but can continue until there is a total loss of renal function. This is referred to as end-stage renal failure, thus, requiring dialysis and/or a kidney transplant. CKD can be slowed down by avoiding or treating all the factors that can aggravate the problem (such as high blood pressure or diabetes, for example).
A Family Medical Clinic in Andover Kansas can diagnose and treat CKD and any associated symptoms.
Key figures
Kidney dysfunctions and insufficiencies in the United States:
* 14% of adults have some type of kidney dysfunction.
* At the end of 2015, nearly 662,000 people were being treated for end-stage renal failure. 56% were on dialysis and 44% had kidney transplants.
* One in two patients was 70 years old or older.
What role do kidneys play?
Both kidneys are located behind the abdomen, on both sides of the spine. In the form of beans, kidneys are 4.7 inches long and each kidney weighs about 1/3 of a pound. Renal arteries supply about 1,700 liters of blood a day to the kidneys. Thus, every 30 minutes, the kidneys filter all the blood from the human body.
They eliminate waste and excess liquids and only keep the substances that are useful for the proper functioning of the body. For more details, visit the website today.
