How to tell if your kidneys are working properly there are some early signs and symptoms of
kidney disease that could warn you of possible problems
With kidney disease an early detection is as important as hard to do In this short video
I'll show you how to understand what your body is trying to tell you about the health
of your kidneys Hello how are your kidneys doing?
This is Katherine welcome to 00Kidney - don't forget to like and subscribe
I'm really glad to be here today This is a very important topic and I'll try to be as
clear and concise as possible The kidneys are said to be two bean shaped
organs that work like a filter but there's a lot more in fact
We could say that the kidneys are more like the plunger in a French coffee press They
take the grounds out of the coffee and leave you with good drinkable coffee without any
residue in it It's a very delicate balance
How to tell if this precious balance is compromised?
This is not always easy Chronic kidney disease is said to be a silent
disease and most of the symptoms are only visible when it's in an advanced stage
But there are still some early symptoms we can consider if we want to outsmart this dangerous
illness So let's go through the various stages and
see what symptoms are we gonna see in each one of them
In stage 1 the kidneys are still working GFR is over 90 meaning that the kidneys are healthy
still working properly GFR is glomeruli filtration rate it tells
us in percentage how much the kidneys are working
If someone has both kidneys healthy this person has 100% kidney function and GFR of 100
If GFR is 90 or more stage 1 the kidneys are still healthy
In stage 2 there's still not much to see GFR is between 60 and 89 and the kidneys are still
working good enough not to create any serious buildup in the body
If chronic kidney disease is diagnosed at this stage it is usually due to other factors
like for example a physical kidney damage like scars or proteins in the urine
Foamy urine can tell us that there's a leakage of a specific protein albumin in the urine
This is one of the first visible signs of kidney disease
If this happens to you don't worry the possibility to improve is still great
It is never too late to change things like lifestyle and diet and there are treatments
that actually work The main focus of a treatment for this stage
is to take care of the causes of kidney disease usually diabetes or high blood pressure
But the fact that you are watching this video already proves that you are on the right way
to be healthy An healthy diet healthy body weight and regular
physical exercise can make our kidneys go for a very long time
Now let's go on with the symptoms Stage 3 if GFR is between 59 and 30 the kidneys
are starting to fail More symptoms will be visible and there will be complications Again
GFR means how much in percentage the kidneys are working so the lower it gets the more
troubles we are going to see Still chronic kidney disease is a silent disease
patients with only nonspecific symptoms are still common even with stage 3 kidney disease
and gfr of 40 or 50 This is a great risk because people often let the disease progress unnoticed
until stage 4 or even 5 Some say that the sickest kidney is still
smarter than the smartest doctor It can still do enough to keep you alive
But some symptoms are more recognizable than others
In stage 3 of CKD we are going see a condition called Uremia that means level of waste in
blood abnormally high We sometimes use the phrase "urine in blood" to try to make this
more comprehensible for patients The toxins the body is supposed to remove trough the
urine are in fact still in the blood These wastes are going to cause several other
symptoms Swelling in the feet and hands and even face
are usually one of the first things that get noticed
These fluid buildups are even going to cause trouble breathing and ammonia breath
Ammonia breath is a very noticeable symptom and it's the reason why doctors are able to
tell if you have CKD just by smell Ammonia breath is often accompanied by a metallic
taste in the mouth and loss of appetite Another recognizable symptom is the change
in the urination patterns Some patients are going to use the bathroom
several times during the night a symptom called nocturia
The shift of position of the body laying down will cause the circulation to start concentrating
in the kidneys area and the kidneys will try to process a lot of wastes created during
the day making the patient want to go to the bathroom even 8 or 10 times a night
Another symptom of stage 3 kidney disease is foamy urine like in stage 2 Now we are
not talking about some bubbles in the urine here which is perfectly normal but if you
see a foam similar to what you can find on the top a freshly spilled beer that definitely
could be proteinuria Now how is it possible that someone went from
stage 2 to 3 without noticing all this foam and bubbles in the urine?
The issue is that many people don't want to listen to what their body is telling them
Let me explain with a story A friend of mine was driving to California when he began to
smell something coming from his car an acrid smell
Ah California is well known for its smog he thought and went on with his trip But it wasn't
the smog it was the engine After several miles the car finally broke down costing him thousands
of dollars to fix it The point is that if he didn't forget to get
it checked and recognized the smell he could have saved his car that day
This is why you should be listening to what your body is trying to tell you about your
kidneys A lot of people think that if they pretend
it isn't there the ailment will go away by itself This doesn't always work unfortunately
We must learn the habit of paying attention to our bodies the first we start fighting
the disease instead of just ignoring it the more chance of victory we have
Another very recognizable symptom is kidney pain It is important to recognize kidney pain
from musculoskeletal back pain Kidney pain is felt on the flank of the body between the
bottom of the rib cage and the hips in a higher position than musculoskeletal back pain Movement
won't make it better or worse Only the correct treatment can alleviate it
Kidney pain is more common in stage 4 patients Stage 4 is defined by a GFR between 30 and
15 meaning that the kidneys are only operating at the 30 to 15 percent of their normal regime
The waste buildups are going to be worse and the symptoms are going to be more noticeable
Nausea loss of appetite fatigue and mental confusion are to be expected
In stage 5 when the GFR drops below 15 the kidneys aren't working like they should anymore
Patients at this stage are usually required to undergo dialysis or to prepare for a kidney
transplant if they are able to find a donor This is not a death sentence as many people
seem to think There's still hope and living a normal life is not impossible Your nephrologist
may recommend you to get tested regularly and to follow a specific kidney friendly diet
Another very important thing to do is to completely stop the use of NSAIDs These drugs are often
used to control pain but are known to cause damages to the kidneys and should be avoided
by all kidney patients Blood pressure is another thing to keep under
a strict control If your doctor prescribed you any medication stick to it Get checked
regularly because high blood pressure can damage the vessels carrying blood trough the
kidneys and making things even worse So never lose hope but don't underestimate
the symptoms either And remember that if you take care of your
body things can always get better This is all for today If you liked this video
please like and leave a comment Thank you for watching