Kidney Impairment or Disease Information

What is kidney disease?

 

 

Our Kidneys do a lot for us, they are one of the hardest working organs in your body!

  • They remove toxins, waste and excess water from your body
  • Kidneys help to regulate your blood pressure
  • Activate Vitamin D which helps to keep your bones and muscles healthy

Most of the time, people will have two kidneys that do all this work in your body without any issues, but they can become damaged and become unable to do their job.

 
Kidney function will sometimes decline age. This will sometimes be modest or much more significant. Some conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and some medications can reduce kidney function and cause kidney disease. Other people will have a specific kidney disease. Your GP may have recorded a condition code of Chronic Kidney Disease which helps us to ensure we monitor any risks around kidney function and prescribe medications taking this risk into account.

 

What to do if you have been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

It is important to look after your own health and wellbeing, including having a healthy diet, exercising regularly, stopping smoking and drinking less alcohol and, where needed, taking medication consistently.

Above all, being as informed as possible, often sharing experiences with others and building healthy daily routines makes the biggest difference.

 

How to Improve your Kidney Health

Improve your Kidney Health to prevent further damage. 

  1. Try to limit your salt intake, stick to a limit of about one teaspoon of salt per day. 
    For more information on healthy eating, including recipe ideas, visit our Healthy Eating and Weight Loss page. 
  2. Keep your blood pressure and diabetes under control. Diabetes and High Blood Pressure can increase the risk of developing Kidney Disease. 
    For more information on High Blood Pressure, visit our Hypertension page
  3. Do 30 Minutes of physical activity a day. Make sure it is something you enjoy, like taking a walk or doing some gardening. 
  4. Stop Smoking. Smoking slows the blood flow to your kidneys and stops them working so well.
    For more information on getting help stopping smoking, click here. 
  5. Stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. Try to avoid drinking too much alcohol - alcohol makes your kidneys less able to filter your blood and do their job. 

 

Blood pressure and kidney disease

High blood pressure increases your risk of and is a leading cause of Chronic Kidney Disease. High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels though your body over time. This can reduce the blood supply to your kidneys and other important organs. As a result your Kidneys stop doing what they are supposed to do and become unable to remove wastes and excess fliid from your blood. This extra fluid in your blood vessels can build up and raise your blood pressure even more. 

High blood pressure can also be a complication of CKD. Your Kidneys are important in keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range. Kidneys that are damaged or diseased are less able to help regulate your blood pressure. 

To find out more about Blood Pressure, how to take your blood pressure and the ideal blood pressure to maintain, visit our HYPERTENSION page. 

 

What to do when you are sick:

SADMANS - Medicine sick day rules

 

General Kidney Disease Information

 

Last Updated 25/08/2023