Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs about the size of your fist. Red-brown in color, they are located on either side of your spine in your upper abdomen. They are part of the urinary tract, and filter waste products, excess salt, and fluids out of the blood. These waste products are then excreted as urine. Renal (kidney) failure occurs when the organs lose their ability to filter out wastes. Toxins build up... Read more >
Kidney pain, or renal pain, is usually centered in the lower back, just below the rib cage. The pain may spread to the sides, the abdomen, or down into the groin. In men, it may even radiate into the testicles.Kidney pain may be a constant dull ache or it may be sharp and intermittent. Occasionally it may be accompanied by hematuria (blood in the urine). Diagnosing the cause of renal pain can be difficult as a... Read more >
Kidney stones (renal calculi or crystals) are solid mineral deposits that accumulate in the urinary tract. According to the National Institutes of Health, ten percent of Americans experience kidney stones during their lifetime. Seven to ten hospital admissions out of every thousand are related to kidney stone symptoms or kidney stone treatment. Usually, the renal calculi pass through the urinary tract without... Read more >
NCERx recently asked people about their kidney health. About 1100 answered questions regarding their kidney pain history and their prevention practices. Seventy-one percent of respondents reported that they have experienced some form of kidney pain. However, 78 percent do not suffer from any of the listed chronic conditions that would trigger this pain. Consequently, most people's kidney problems occur... Read more >
For many people with a kidney stone treatment is often unnecessary. Most calculi are spontaneously passed in the urine. Ninety percent of small stones (less than 1/4 inch, or four millimeters) pass without any need for treatment at all. Stones that measure five to seven millimeters can be passed about half of the time. Once a stone exceeds seven millimeters in diameter, however, some form of intervention is... Read more >
Kidney stones often move through the urinary tract and leave the body without any symptoms at all. Such stones are referred to as "silent" stones, and are usually very small (under four millimeters). Larger calculi cannot be excreted and even small stones can cause problems by becoming lodged in the ureter, the long narrow tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder. One of the typical symptoms of... Read more >
Dialysis filters blood through an "artificial kidney," removing waste products and toxins from the blood. Acute renal failure may require a period of dialysis during treatment. Chronic failure requires long-term dialysis. Kidney dialysis is not a cure for chronic renal failure: Without regular treatment, toxins build up in the body. The treatment can cause malnutrition, so following a renal diet while on dialysis... Read more >
Symptoms of kidney failure depend on whether the disease is acute or chronic. The sudden decrease of kidney function associated with acute renal failure (ARF) is accompanied by the rapid development of symptoms. Chronic renal failure (CRF) describes a gradual deterioration of kidney function, and symptoms often become apparent only after irreversible damage has occurred.Chronic renal failure is characterized by a... Read more >
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