The most common kidney health problems seen today are kidney infections and kidney stones. There are kidney diseases as well though, and some of these are hereditary while others are caused by other medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Chronic Kidney diseases and failure have become more common in fact, because of the increase in cases of diabetes and high blood pressure – both of which can damage the functionality of your kidneys.
When someone has high blood pressure, it can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys. These blood vessels are needed as part of the body’s toxin and waste filtering process, so when they’re damaged the kidneys are unable to operate properly. Diabetes causes a similar problem. When the body’s blood sugar levels stay too high, that glucose in the blood can act as a poison to the system. And the poison will damage the filtering tubes inside the kidneys, thus making the kidneys unable to filter the toxins and wastes properly.
Unfortunately the cycle is somewhat vicious. People with diabetes have lowered immune system functionality, and this makes them more susceptile to infections. And kidney infections can damage the kidneys or make them fail completely when left untreated.
Kidney infections are often started with a bladder infection. A bladder infection that is not treated or spreads quickly can travel up the ureter tubes which connect the kidneys to the bladder. Bladder infections can also cause kidney infections in people whose immune system resistance is low or not working well too.
Conditions which put people more at risk for kidney infections include pregnancy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, kidney stones, poor hygeine, intercourse for women, and catheter tubes.
Kidney stones are another common health problem for many people, and often they’re chronic too. This means the problem keeps coming back regularly. Kidney stones can be more of a problem for people who have family members with frequent kidney stone problems. Anyone with chronic kidney diseases are also more at risk though, as are people who have poor dietary habits or who let themselves become too dehydrated.
Most kidney stones are formed by calcium deposits which aren’t diluted enough to be flushed from the system. When these calcium deposits gather together, they form sharp crystal like substances. Those crystals can join together further, to form hard stones.
Many people get kidney stones without knowing it, because the stones are small enough to be passed through the urinary tract system and out of the body through the urine. When the stones are large however, and they try to travel to the bladder for elimination from the body, they can get stuck in the narrow ureter tubes which connect the kidneys and the bladder. When these stones get stuck, it can cause severe pain, and sometimes even block the flow of urine.
Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.