The role of the kidneys in the human body is difficult to overestimate. It is these organs that filter blood, remove excess fluid from our body, which eliminates unnecessary, harmful substances from tissues and counteract the formation of edema. Their role is also great in metabolism (metabolism), the synthesis of hormones, and the maintenance of the balance of a number of substances in the body.
From here it becomes clear that kidney diseases, the causes of which can be very different, lead to serious, if not life-threatening consequences. The main harm is that the disease of these organs is difficult to determine immediately to a layman. Namely, the timely establishment of the correct diagnosis here will be the key to effective treatment.
Why do kidney diseases occur? What are their main reasons? How can you guess that something is wrong with your kidneys? How to build the treatment and prevention of such diseases? Answers to these questions await you in the article.
Main reasons
What are the main causes of kidney disease? Oddly enough, but in the first place - it is an erratic sexual life (lack of protection during sexual intercourse). Infections, which are transmitted sexually, affect the urinary system, including causing inflammatory processes in the kidneys.
Another common cause of kidney disease can be called frequent hypothermia, susceptibility to colds. Do not forget about malnutrition: the abuse of unhealthy foods, quick snacks, fast food, sugary sodas, foods rich in dyes and sweeteners negatively affects the health of your kidneys.
What are the causes of kidney disease? One cannot but highlight the addiction to alcoholic beverages, smoking, drugs. Strongly affects the renal system and uncontrolled intake of all kinds of drugs.
What are the causes of kidney disease in humans? We can not say about the hereditary predisposition. Many diseases are thus transmitted from parents to children.
Provocative factors
Speaking about the causes of kidney and urinary tract diseases, it is important to identify factors that can provoke them:
- Alcohol. It interferes with normal blood filtration, can cause general dehydration of the body, increase blood pressure. All this together extremely negatively affects the functioning of the renal system.
- Chemotherapy. In addition to such unpleasant consequences as vomiting, diarrhea, leads to severe damage to the kidneys.
- Lithium. This component is often prescribed to patients suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. One of its side effects is nephropathy.
- Immunoglobulins A. Based on their deposition in the kidneys, Berger's disease can develop. This is called the inability of the renal system to remove fluid from the body and filter toxins.
- Analgesics. Long-term use of pain medications is fraught with negative effects on the kidneys.
In pregnant women
Talking about the causes of kidney disease, their prevention, it is impossible not to highlight the special non-pathological conditions of the body, when the load on the kidneys increases. The first on this list is pregnancy. Especially late gestation.
The reason is that in the third semester, the kidneys of the future mother literally work for two (or even three, four or more). It happens that these organs can not cope with the load - the removal of excess fluid from the body is difficult, which is why pregnant women often suffer from edema.
Often a condition called late toxicosis, gestosis develops. Its specific features: periodic swelling of the face and limbs, increased blood pressure, proteinuria - the detection of protein in the urine.
To avoid such consequences of pregnancy, the expectant mother must take care of her diet, drink enough water, move a lot, periodically visit the fresh air, and also be constantly monitored by her gynecologist.
In children
Let us examine separately what are the causes of kidney disease in children. Among the main ones are:
- Hereditary factor.
- Adverse environmental conditions.
- Infectious diseases.
- Forced medication.
Children over two years old can already explain what is happening to them. Therefore, you should be warned if the child began to complain about the following:
- Pain in the lower back and abdomen.
- Fever.
- Difficult urination.
- General deterioration of health.
- Fear of going to the toilet “a little” (may be caused by painful urination).
In babies
As for preschoolers, schoolchildren, adolescents, kidney diseases in them appear the same as in adults. A different kind of clinical picture will be only in relation to babies of the first year of life. Parents should be alert for the following symptoms:
- An increase in the size of the tummy.
- Changes in both the color and smell of urine.
- Causeless crying.
In these cases, anxiety and going to the doctor will never be redundant.
With diabetes and hypertension
What causes kidney disease can be identified yet? These are diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. According to statistics, they are diagnosed in every second patient with any diseases, pathologies of the kidneys.
The fact is that with these diseases, small vessels are affected, which nourish the renal system with blood. This leads to disruption of the functioning of these organs and, as a result, the development of renal failure. To prevent this, patients should regularly monitor blood sugar levels, blood pressure, do not miss scheduled appointments with your doctor.
Risk factors
Renal disease may be due to exposure to risk factors:
- Permanent hypothermia.
- Frequent urinary infections.
- Both obesity and subsequent dramatic weight loss.
- The presence of stones in the urinary tract and the kidneys themselves.
- Gout, which directly contributes to the development of urolithiasis.
- Smoking, alcohol abuse.
- Uncontrolled intake of food additives, analgesics and anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs.
Main symptoms
We have identified the causes of kidney disease. But how to determine them in time? Unfortunately, there are no special, specific symptoms in which you need to sound the alarm. Very often, kidney problems are confused with problems with the musculoskeletal system.
Please note the following:
- Chronic pulling, dull pain in the lumbar region. In some cases, it can somewhat give to the abdomen.
- Rapid urination.
- The appearance of edema, which indicates a violation of the processes of excretion of excess fluid.
- Arterial hypertension.
- Unnatural pallor of the skin.
Palpate the kidneys. If they are palpated, painfully react to touch, this suggests that they are enlarged. Perhaps an inflammatory process develops.
Anxiety symptoms
Analyzing the symptoms and causes of kidney diseases, we draw your attention to the signs, the presence of which requires an urgent appeal to the doctor:
- Acute pain in the lower back.
- Elevated body temperature.
- Difficult urination (or even the inability to cope with a small need).
- A mixture of blood in urine.
All this directly indicates an acute inflammatory process. Any delay here can lead to irreversible consequences.
Major diseases
In the article, we consider the causes of kidney disease and their treatment. But what specific diseases? We will designate them further:
- Nephropathy is diabetic. This disease is caused by a violation of the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates in the renal tissues themselves, as well as a pathology such as diabetes. In particular, the capillaries of the kidneys are affected. Patient with nephropathy complains of headache, skin itching, chronic fatigue, swelling of the lower extremities. The disease is insidious in that for a long time it may not manifest itself.
- Stones in the kidneys. This formation in these organs of the mineral nature of the growths. They manifest themselves as severe, intolerant pain in the lumbar region. If such a stone blocks the ureter, urination becomes impossible.
- Kidney infections. For the most part, they can be caused by bacteria in the bladder. From there they enter the kidneys. Such infections manifest themselves with fever, painful urination, severe pain in the lumbar region. Patients also note a change in the characteristics of the urine itself: it becomes a different color, with blood inclusions. A similar disease is more common in women.
- Hydronephrosis of the kidneys. The name can be translated as the presence of water in the kidneys. The disease is caused by the fact that urine does not exit the renal system - its outflow is disturbed. As a result, this is fraught with such a serious consequence as atrophy of the renal parenchyma. The main symptom is severe back pain.
- Renal failure. It refers to the inability of the kidney to filter out unnecessary, harmful metabolic products from the blood. One of the main causes of this type of kidney disease is injury.
- Duplication of the ureter. As a result of this disease, two ureters are formed between the kidneys, but one bladder remains. In itself, such a pathology can provoke susceptibility to infectious diseases of the urinary system.
- Jade interstitial. This is the name for inflammation of the interstitial tissues of the kidneys and tubular apparatus of the nephron, which can be caused both by bacteria and by taking certain medications.
- Renal tumor. It is divided into benign and malignant.
- Nephrotic syndrome. Here we are talking about impaired renal function. As a result, the protein content in the urine increases, which leads to an overall fluid retention in the body. Consequence: chronic edema, increased cholesterol, fluid content in the lungs, anemia.
Treatment
With regard to treatment, it is difficult to highlight any universal recommendations. The treatment regimen should be made by your doctor-nephrologist. In some cases, this is the use of antibiotics, in some - other drugs. Someone will be shown compliance with a certain diet. In some cases, surgical intervention is required.
General recommendations
If you want to protect your kidneys from all kinds of diseases, pay attention to the following expert tips:
- Make a rational nutrition plan. Refuse from ready-made store dishes, fast food, reduce the use of salt, smoked, fried foods, sweets. Instead, take adequate water, diuretic fruits, and vegetables.
- Give up smoking addiction, alcohol.
- Take care of sufficient physical activity, which helps to improve blood circulation in the kidneys, will save you from obesity - one of the risk factors for kidney diseases.
- Protect yourself from hypothermia (especially the lumbar zone).
- Timely treat any infection, inflammatory process in the body. There is a big chance that this will "spread" to the kidneys.
- Do not self-medicate and do not get involved in the uncontrolled use of drugs.
- Keep track of your blood pressure and blood sugar.
Diet as a method of prevention
We analyze the causes of kidney disease, their prevention. As for the latter, one of the most effective methods here can be called following a special diet:
- The exclusion from your diet of such harmful and heavy components as fats, salts, hot spices.
- Appeal to fractional nutrition (about 4-5 times a day), eating in small portions.
- Turning to calcium enriched foods. Of course, dairy products come to the fore here.
- The inclusion in the menu of food with a diuretic effect: apples, cucumbers, lettuce, beets, pumpkins.
- Limiting the use of salt to 4 g per day.
- In order not to provoke the formation of edema, drink pure water no more than 1.5-2 liters per day.
- Eliminate fatty, spicy, smoked, salty, fried foods, semi-finished foods, fast food, all kinds of sauces and seasonings, mushrooms from your diet. Refuse chocolate, coffee, strong tea, sweets.
The kidneys are one of the vital organs. Why kidney disease can turn into serious problems. The most important thing here is to try to prevent them, turning to simple preventive measures.