Elsie Ward of Willard (not her real name), Ohio was 82 when she began to develop certain symptoms. She was often tired. Her ankles were swollen and she lost her appetite. She had to urinate frequently, especially during the night. It interrupted her sleep. She had frequent headaches. If she had to walk very far, she got short of breath. Elsie chalked most of these things up to simply aging. She also thought her high blood pressure might have something to do with it. Finally, after months of feeling miserable, she went to see her doctor. To her surprise, she was told she had chronic kidney disease.
Elsie is not alone. As many as one in six individuals has kidney disease, and kidney disease is 40% more common among the elderly.
The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that lie on either side of the spine in the middle of the lower back. Each weighs about ¼ of a pound. The kidneys are responsible for filtering various toxins and excess water from the blood. They also help regulate the levels of various minerals in the blood, including sodium, calcium, and potassium. If our kidneys don’t function properly, toxins can build up in our blood and begin to cause health problems.
Chronic kidney disease is a condition in which the kidneys gradually lose their ability to function properly over a period of time, usually months or even years. Chronic kidney disease is broken down into five different stages of increasing severity. Stage five chronic kidney disease is sometimes referred to as end-stage renal disease, and at this point a person’s kidneys are so bad that they require dialysis or need a transplant.
Chronic kidney disease can be caused by a number of things. The most common cause is diabetes. Uncontrolled high blood pressure is another common cause. Other potential causes include chronic kidney infections, kidney stones, cysts of the kidneys, and hardening of the arteries that lead to the kidneys. People with certain illnesses are at an increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease and should be carefully monitored for the condition. These illnesses include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and vascular disease.
Because the kidneys perform so many important functions for the body, kidney disease affects the body in many ways. However, symptoms may not show up until the disease is rather advanced. If you notice signs of kidney disease in your loved one, your loved one needs to see a doctor as soon as possible. Kidney disease is extremely serious and can be fatal, because the body cannot live if the kidneys are not functioning.
Symptoms to watch for include:
Weakness and fatigue (caused by the build up of toxins in the blood)
Frequent need to urinate
Loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting
Swelling of the legs and puffiness around the eyes (due to fluid retention since the kidneys are not removing excess water from the body efficiently)
Headaches
Numbness in the feet or hands
Altered mental status (caused by the build up of toxins in the blood)
Shortness of breath (caused by a build up of fluid in the lungs)
Also, if your loved one has any of the health conditions mentioned earlier, his or her doctor should be monitoring them closely for signs of kidney disease. You can ask your loved one’s doctor to make sure this is being done. Simple urine tests and blood tests are used to check for and monitor chronic kidney disease.
Caring For Someone With Chronic Kidney Disease
If your loved one has chronic kidney disease, a special diet will usually be recommended. Decreasing the amount of protein in the diet can help slow the progress of kidney disease, but it’s important to get some protein in order to remain healthy. Ask your loved one’s doctor or a licensed dietician how much protein your loved one should be getting. Your loved one will need to be on a low sodium diet in order to prevent fluid retention and help control high blood pressure. A diet low in potassium is also usually recommended, because the damaged kidneys won’t be able to remove excess potassium from the blood. Foods high in potassium that should be limited or avoided include bananas, oranges, nuts and potatoes. Since diet is such an important part of treating chronic kidney disease, make a point of talking to your loved one’s doctor about it, or ask to be referred to a licensed dietician.
If your loved one has chronic kidney disease, he or she must carefully follow any prescribed regimen to treat conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, since these conditions can make kidney disease worse.
There are certain over-the-counter medications that people with chronic kidney disease shouldn’t take, or should take only in limited quantities. These include medications like aspirin and ibuprofen (Tylenol is probably OK, but ask your loved one’s doctor first), laxatives and antacids containing magnesium and aluminum such as milk of magnesia, certain ulcer medications such as Tagamet and Zantac, decongestants like Sudafed, and Alka-seltzer. There are prescription medications your loved one should not take, as well. Make sure any doctor prescribing medications for your loved one knows he or she has chronic kidney disease.
There is no cure for chronic kidney disease. The goal of treatment is to slow the progression or the disease, to treat any known causes of the disease, to treat any complications of the disease, and to restore lost kidney function as much as possible.
Medication can be used to treat common complications of kidney disease. For instance, diuretic drugs are used to treat fluid retention.
If kidney function is compromised enough, dialysis may be required. There are a couple different kinds of dialysis. With hemodialysis, blood is circulated through a filter in a dialysis machine, removing waste products and excess water. Hemodialysis is performed at a dialysis center, and needs to be done several times a week. With peritoneal dialysis, dialysis fluid is injected into the abdomen. The fluid contains substances that will pull waste products and excess water out of neighboring tissues. The fluid is left in the abdomen for a few hours, then drained. This is usually done on a daily basis, but can be done at home. In the most severe cases of kidney disease, a kidney transplant is required.
Elsie’s kidney disease was already rather advanced by the time she was diagnosed, but right now she is being treated with medication and special diet. Her doctor is monitoring her closely. Remember, the earlier it is diagnosed, the better, so if your loved one has any symptoms, see the doctor as soon as you can.
Sources:
National Kidney Disease Education Program. http:// www.nkdep.nih.gov.
