Kidney damage, once it occurs, can't be reversed. Potential complications can affect almost any part of your body and can include: Fluid retention, which could lead to swelling in your arms and legs, high blood pressure, or fluid in your lungs (pulmonary edema)
The kidney-swollen legs connection
Damage to the tiny filtering nephrons can result in what's called nephrotic syndrome; declining levels of the protein albumin in your blood and increasing levels in the urine can cause fluid to build up and result in edema, most commonly around the ankles and feet.
Severe loss of kidney function causes metabolic wastes to build up to higher levels in the blood. Damage to muscles and nerves can cause muscle twitches, muscle weakness, cramps, and pain. People may also feel a pins-and-needles sensation in the arms and legs and may lose sensation in certain areas of the body.
People with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) often present with prevalent gait impairment and high fall rates, particularly in advanced CKD stages. Gait impairment and its consequences is associated with increased hospital admission, institutionalization, and greater need for health care.
Generally, earlier stages are known as 1 to 3. And as kidney disease progresses, you may notice the following symptoms. Nausea and vomiting, muscle cramps, loss of appetite, swelling via feet and ankles, dry, itchy skin, shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, urinating either too much or too little.
People with kidney failure may survive days to weeks without dialysis, depending on the amount of kidney function they have, how severe their symptoms are, and their overall medical condition.
Acute kidney injury (AKI), also known as acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden episode of kidney failure or kidney damage that happens within a few hours or a few days. AKI causes a build-up of waste products in your blood and makes it hard for your kidneys to keep the right balance of fluid in your body.
What does kidney pain feel like? Kidney pain often feels like a dull ache that gets worse if someone gently presses on that area. While it is more common to feel kidney pain on only one side, some health problems may affect both kidneys and cause pain on both sides of your back.
Changes in urine color, transparency, and smell
A pinkish or reddish hue may indicate the presence of blood in the urine, while a greenish tone could be a sign of a bacterial infection. Cloudy non-transparent urine may be another sign of infection, but it may also suggest an abnormal level of salts in the liquid.
Kidney disease progresses at different rates for different people, and it can take between two and five years to pass between different stages. Kidney disease stages are measured by using a blood test to check the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
Changes to skin color—the buildup of toxins in your body, when your kidneys aren't filtering your blood as they should, can cause color changes to your skin. You may notice a gray or yellow hue to your skin, areas of darkened skin, or an unhealthy pale tone.
Urine Tests
One of the earliest signs of kidney disease is when protein leaks into your urine (called proteinuria). To check for protein in your urine, a doctor will order a urine test.
Creatinine level in the blood is an indicator of kidney health and functioning. The ability of kidneys to clear creatinine out from the blood and make it creatinine-free is known as creatinine clearance rate (CCR).
Common areas for this type of itching include the head, arms, back, and abdomen. It also tends to be worse at night, which can disturb your sleep. The itching is lower in intensity just after dialysis as the blood urea levels will be lower. However, it increases in intensity two days after dialysis.
To determine what stage you have, your health care provider performs a blood test to check your glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR measures how much blood the kidneys filter each minute, recorded as milliliters per minute (mL/min). As the GFR declines, so does your kidney function.
Kidney failure can be sudden or gradual. Acute kidney failure is often short-lived, but requires treatment until kidney function returns. Chronic kidney disease develops over time and is related to a number of risk factors, including diabetes and high blood pressure.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Your health care provider will look at your health history and may do tests to find out why you have kidney disease.
The rate of sudden cardiac death increases as the stage of CKD increases and could be responsible for 60% of cardiac deaths in patients undergoing dialysis. In hemodialysis units treating patients with CKD, cardiac arrest occurs at a rate of seven arrests per 100,000 hemodialysis sessions.
The most common cause of death overall in the dialysis population is cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular mortality is 10-20 times higher in dialysis patients than in the general population.