Renal disease facts for kids

Kidney disease is a health problem that mainly affects your kidneys. Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that filter your blood. They remove waste and extra water from your body, turning it into urine.

Doctors might call kidney disease by other names like nephropathy or nephrosis.

There are many reasons why someone might get kidney disease, including:

• Diabetes: A condition where your body has too much sugar in the blood.
• High blood pressure: When the force of your blood pushing against your artery walls is too high.
• Some pain medicines: Taking certain pain medicines for a long time can sometimes affect how well your kidneys work.
• Organ transplants: If a person gets a new organ, they need to take special medicines to stop their immune system from attacking the new organ. These medicines can sometimes affect the kidneys.
• Certain diseases: Some diseases, like those caused by eating bread that was contaminated with a harmful plant chemical called Aristolochic acid.
• Certain viruses: Some viruses, like HIV, can also affect the kidneys.

If kidney disease gets very serious, it can lead to kidney failure. This means the kidneys stop working almost completely, and the body can't clean its blood anymore.

What are Kidneys and What Do They Do?

Your body has two kidneys, usually found on each side of your spine, just below your rib cage. They are super important! Think of them as your body's natural filters.

How Kidneys Keep You Healthy

The main jobs of your kidneys are:

• Filtering Blood: They clean your blood by removing waste products and extra water.
• Making Urine: The waste and extra water become urine, which leaves your body when you go to the bathroom.
• Balancing Chemicals: Kidneys help keep the right balance of salt, potassium, and acid in your body.
• Making Hormones: They also make hormones that help control your blood pressure, make red blood cells, and keep your bones strong.

When your kidneys aren't working well, these important jobs don't get done properly.

What Causes Kidney Disease?

Kidney disease can happen for many different reasons. Sometimes it's a long-term problem, and sometimes it can happen suddenly.

Common Reasons for Kidney Problems

• Diabetes: This is a leading cause. High blood sugar levels over time can damage the tiny filters in your kidneys.
• High Blood Pressure: When your blood pressure stays too high, it can put a lot of strain on the blood vessels in your kidneys, damaging them.
• Certain Medicines: Some medicines, especially certain pain relievers, can harm your kidneys if used too much or for too long. It's always important to take medicines only as directed by a doctor.
• Autoimmune Diseases: These are conditions where your body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells, including kidney cells.
• Infections: Some severe infections can affect the kidneys.
• Genetic Conditions: Some people are born with genes that make them more likely to develop kidney disease.
• Blockages: Sometimes, a blockage in the urinary tract (like kidney stones or a tumor) can stop urine from flowing out, causing damage to the kidneys.

What Happens if Kidneys Stop Working?

If kidney disease gets worse, it can lead to kidney failure. This means your kidneys can no longer do their job of cleaning your blood.

Signs of Kidney Failure

When kidneys fail, waste products build up in the body. This can make a person feel very sick. Some signs might include:

• Feeling very tired and weak.
• Swelling in the legs, feet, or ankles.
• Headaches.
• Feeling sick to your stomach or throwing up.
• Trouble sleeping.

Treating Kidney Failure

If someone has kidney failure, they need special treatments to help their body get rid of waste. These treatments include:

• Dialysis: This is a medical procedure that uses a machine to filter your blood, doing the job your kidneys can no longer do. There are different types of dialysis.
• Kidney Transplant: This is an operation where a sick kidney is replaced with a healthy kidney from a donor.

It's important to see a doctor if you think you might have kidney problems, as early treatment can often help.

See also

In Spanish: Nefropatía para niños