According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 26 million Americans either have kidney disease or are at risk of developing one. Untreated kidney disease leads to chronic renal failure (CRF), also known as chronic kidney failure.
The underlying cause of kidney disease may vary. Hypertension and diabetes are common contributors, but genetics, chronic infection, lupus and kidney stones are other causes of kidney disease.
Kidneys are not a mere organ of excretion or selective filtration and should always be evaluated in relation to the individual as a whole. Kidneys have a generalised function–the fluids coming to it and going from it, influence every organ, tissue and cell of our body. Kidney function influences the complete vital economy of our body.
Kidney disease is a silent killer... Since early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) often do not present themselves with any symptoms, so a patient is often shocked when they find out that he/she has CKD. Their blood test reveals a decline in their kidney function (low GFR) and higher level than normal of waster products (mainly creatinine, and urea nitrogen), which the kidneys are not able to remove from blood. So quite often, their doctor watches their GFR to decline with time, and their creatinine and BUN levels going up in each routinely performed blood tests. But, they don't have anything much to offer to those patients in the early stages of CKD, apart high blood pressure and anemia medications as these conditions are commonly experienced when the kidney failure progresses. Only when the kidneys function deteriorates to the level that indicates the end stage of the disease, the doctors can then offer the dialysis or kidney transplant procedures.
No wonder many CKD patients look for help outside of the mainstream medicine to support their kidneys and slow down the deterioration process. Often the patient needs to be educated on the proper nutrition, on how stress and emotional health affects the health, how to handle the stressors, and they need to commit to necessary lifestyle changes appropriate to their individual case. It is of course easier to help the body to heal at the early stage of the condition when the GFR is in a normal but low rage (70-60) than it is at its end stage (below 20).
It is good to know your blood test results.
Next time you visit a doctor please ask for a copy of your blood results and learn what those results mean. See how the results change with each visit. It is your life, your blood, so knowing what's going on in your body should be of interest to you, too, not only to the doctor. Here you find the basic explanation of some kidney blood test results that are important to your kidneys' health.
It is advisable to work with a holistic health practitioner, who can support you in your journey to better health, who spends time explaining and answering questions related to the lifestyle changes that he/she might recommend to you, additionally to the treatment and care you receive from your primary physician or nephrologist.
If you have questions regarding this subject, please schedule a free 15 min. phone call to have them answered.
