10 kidney disease symptoms to watch out for

• By Dr. Jayanta Dutta - Jun 19, 2020
• 03 Comments

Kidney disease is one of the most underestimated illnesses that affect people across age groups. Nearly 14% of the total general population lives with chronic kidney disease (CKD). According to the National Kidney Foundation, CKD is accountable for more deaths than breast or prostate cancer. Despite such high incidence, there is a substantial lack of awareness about kidney disease symptoms.

What are kidney disease symptoms?

Before we set on to discuss the common signs of kidney disease, it is important that we understand what kidney disease means?

Kidney disease overview

As the name suggests, kidney disease is an ailment of the kidneys. Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located at the back of the abdomen right below your ribcage. Kidneys are responsible for the following functions –

• filtering out toxins
• removing waste from your blood
• producing urine
• balancing minerals and fluids

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Having kidney disease means that your kidneys are unable to perform the above-given functions properly. Kidney disease has various complications – a damaged kidney can affect the process of filtration in your body. As a result, waste and toxins can collect inside your body leading to health problems such as nausea, weakness, poor sleep, and shortness of breath.

Kidney disease is generally classified into two categories, based on their causes – acute kidney disease and chronic kidney disease.

Acute kidney disease:

Acute kidney disease happens when the kidney is diseased suddenly. Some of the common causes include sudden disruption in blood flow to the kidney, injury or trauma to the kidneys.

Chronic kidney disease:

Chronic kidney disease is one that develops over time. Diabetes and hypertension are the two foremost reasons why chronic kidney disease occurs.