Sherrie Hughes, Nurse Practitioner, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth

Every day, your kidneys filter about 120 to 150 quarts of blood to produce 1 to 2 quarts of waste products and extra fluid through your body. If the waste was not removed, then it would build up in your blood and cause damage to your body.[1]

Kidney function, or renal function, refers to how efficient your kidneys are at filtering blood. Someone who has two healthy kidneys has 100 percent of their kidney function. However, kidney function sometimes becomes reduced, in which case a kidney disease is most likely present and will worsen over time. Serious health issues can occur from severely reduced kidney function.

We spoke with Sherrie Hughes, MSN, APR-BC, a nurse practitioner at BID-Plymouth, for her advice on kidney function.

Q: Who is most at risk for kidney disease and what are symptoms?

Two of the most common causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Having a family history of kidney disease is also a risk factor.

Diabetes prevents your body from using glucose properly. Unused glucose in the blood, damages kidneys and is called diabetic kidney disease. Use medications to keep blood glucose levels down to prevent or delay diabetic kidney disease.

High blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys. This results in the vessels not being able to filter wastes from the blood like they’re supposed to. If your blood pressure is high, your doctor may prescribe medication to prevent kidney disease.

When kidney disease occurs, it usually does so slowly and silently. This means it may not be apparent for many years. There are some warning signs that your kidneys may be getting worse, however. These include: the need to urinate more/less often, feeling tired, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, swelling in hands or feet, itchy/numb feeling, drowsiness, darkened skin or muscle cramps.

Q: How is kidney disease detected?

It is very important that a kidney disease is detected early as to prevent kidney failure. The following tests can detect a kidney disease early:

• Measuring blood pressure.
• Urine test to detect protein. If there is protein in urine, that could mean your kidneys are not filtering your blood properly.
• A blood test can reveal your creatinine level. Your doctor can then use your age, race, sex and other factors to calculate your Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR). GFR is a calculation of how efficiently the kidneys are filtering wastes from the blood.[2]

Q: How is kidney disease treated?

If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, being sure to carefully monitor and control the disease can potentially prevent kidney disease or slow down its progression. Kidney disease may progress to kidney failure in which case either dialysis or a kidney transplant is required.

Be sure to contact your health care provider if you think you may be at risk for kidney disease.

[1] http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/#why

[2] https://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/howkidneyswrk.cfm#treat