What Is Kidney Disease?
The kidneys are two organs that are the midsection on either side of your spine in the middle of your back, just above the waist. They clean your blood, keep the balance of salt and minerals in your blood, and help control blood pressure.
When your kidneys are damaged, waste products and fluid can build up in your body, causing swelling in your ankles, vomiting, weakness, poor sleep, and shortness of breath. If you don’t treat them, diseased kidneys may eventually stop working completely. Loss of kidney function is a serious and potentially fatal condition.
Kidney disease is a growing problem. More than 20 million Americans may have kidney disease and many more are at risk. Anyone can develop kidney disease, regardless of age or race. The main risk factors for developing kidney disease are:
- Diabetes,
- High blood pressure,
- Cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease, and
- A family history of kidney failure.
World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. World Kidney Day (WKD) 2nd Thursday in March.
For more information about Kidney Disease and World Kidney day check out these links:
http://www.nationalkidneycenter.org/
Reblogged this on Akingstruth's Blog.