Why Looking After your Kidneys Is Super Important?

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore That Constant Flank Pain?

Is My Backache A Sign Of Kidney Disease? You may have long-standing mild flank pain and you assume it is the backache, or your father might have mentioned a decrease in urine flow but you just ignored it thinking it’s a sign of old age.

Life is too busy that you can easily ignore mild symptoms but these can be initial signs of kidney disease that takes no time in aggravation.

Why your Kidneys Are Important?

Kidneys are vital organs located just beneath the rib cage on each side. These are the main cleaners of your body meaning they remove wastes, excess water, and other toxic substances from your body.

These wastes are then discharged from your body through urine. Kidneys play a key role in the regulation of the electrolytes of your body. Your body requires a certain pH, Sodium, and Potassium to function properly. Calcium quantities in your blood and the production of Red Blood Cells are also controlled by the kidneys. Kidneys act as a cornerstone in the blood pressure control mechanism.

It is super important that you take care of your kidneys so you can enjoy a long comfortable life. But how can you know what are the early signs of kidney disease?

Signs of Kidney Disease

1. Pain at the Side of Your Spine, Flank Pain It is very easy to confuse kidney pain with back pain because the area of the pain is almost the same. Constant flank pain can be a sign of a kidney stone or any other kidney disfunction. It is the most important sign indicating an underlined kidney problem.
2.  Feeling Lethargic, Lack Of Energy and Poor Concentration Accumulation of toxic substances due to loss of kidney function can make you sick. You can easily be disoriented and confused. Prolonged exposure to these impurities can be life-threatening.
3. Urge to Urinate Frequently If you are urinating excessively, your kidney filters might be damaged. This can also be a sign of diabetes or a prostate gland problem. Urinary tract infections also exhibit similar signs.
4. Blood in Urine Blood in the urine is an obvious sign of a damaged kidney. If you are observing blood in urine, don’t wait to consult your doctor. It can be a sign of a more serious issue like a large kidney stone or a tumor etc.
5. Less or No Urine You know the normal amount of urine you experience and you can judge that you are having a decreased urine output. Having no urine at all is a very serious issue as it can be a sign of kidney injury or kidney failure.
6. Foamy Urine Foam-like urine means bubbles in urine that need to be flushed multiple times is a sign of protein in urine. This is again due to the damaged filter of a kidney.
7.  Puffiness around Eyes Damaged kidneys let the protein out of the body rather than keeping them inside. The protein binds the water in your blood vessels. Decreased amount of protein leads to leakage of water from blood vessels to surrounding tissue. This is called edema. You can observe it as puffiness around the eye.
8. Swelling in Ankles and Feet One of the early described disfunctions of the kidney is sodium control in the body. As a result, sodium retains in the body causing swelling in ankles and feet.
9. Lack of Sleep Piling up toxins in the body leads to trouble in getting a good night rest. Although it is a very general symptom and related to various other diseases like obesity, sleep apnea, and psychiatric issues but in the presence of other obvious signs of kidney problem, this warrants an examination by your doctor.

Why You Should Be More Cautious If You Are Living in Gulf Countries?

Above mentioned signs are the general signs that one can experience. You must pay more attention to your kidney health specially if you are getting older, have a family history of kidney disease, or living in a region prone to kidney disease like the Middle East. Kidney disease in the gulf region are one of the leading causes of hospital visits. The Bottom Line Kidneys are small but crucial organs of the body. Any insult to these organs can compromise the quality of life very easily. In conclusion, if you are an elderly or a busy young adult with aging parents, you must pay attention to their diet and shouldn’t ignore the above-narrated symptoms.