Chronic kidney disease: The warning sign before failure

Jul 22, 2024

The kidney is the chemist of the body. It keeps electrolytes (vitamins and minerals) and fluid in balance, while also cleaning blood. When the kidney stops functioning properly, it can lead to chronic kidney disease, failure and eventually death.

graphic showing how salt, smoking and red meat can impact your kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease — It’s important to live a healthy lifestyle to keep your kidneys going strong.

Chronic kidney disease happens when a person’s kidney functions at 60% of its normal function. Kidney failure happens when a person’s kidneys functions at less than 10% of its normal function. Complete kidney failure is when the kidneys are not functioning well enough to keep a person alive or prevent them from getting sick from kidney toxin build-up.

“The kidneys are very good at making up for lost function and people can get all the way to complete failure before they have any symptoms,” said Dr. Rebecca Blonsky, a Marshfield Clinic Health System nephrologist.

In addition, kidney disease does not hurt. The only way to know what is going on in the kidneys is with blood and urine tests.

“This is why it is important to follow regularly with your primary care provider, especially if you have risk factors for kidney disease,” Dr. Blonsky said.

Keeping kidneys healthy

The best way to keep your kidneys healthy is to stay as healthy as possible. The healthier you are, the healthier your kidneys will be.

Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading cause for kidney disease in the U.S. If you have these diseases, keeping these well controlled will help to protect your kidneys. In addition to taking medications as prescribed, following a plant-based diet, limiting your salt intake and exercising regularly can help keep your kidneys healthy.

Alcohol intake does not directly cause chronic kidney disease, but can contribute to high blood pressure. Smoking also does not directly cause chronic kidney disease, but can accelerate vascular disease. This can result in decreased blood flow to the kidneys, leading to kidney disease.

Dialysis treats complete kidney failure

Dialysis is a treatment for complete kidney failure that replaces the function of the kidneys including keeping electrolytes and fluid in balance and cleaning the blood. However, dialysis does not help the kidneys get better.

“Dialysis is also only able to replace the kidney function at a small percentage of what healthy kidneys are able to achieve,” Dr. Blonsky said. “People on dialysis need to follow very strict dietary and fluid restrictions.”

People who end up on dialysis often also have diabetes or high blood pressure. Having high blood pressure or diabetes does not mean you will end up on dialysis. However, most people on dialysis have at least one of these two diseases.

“The lifespan of a person on dialysis is less than half that of a person the same age who is not on dialysis,” Blonsky said. “Most cancer patients will live longer than patients on dialysis.”

For questions about kidney disease, visit a Marshfield Clinic Health System provider.

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4 responses to “Chronic kidney disease: The warning sign before failure”

David Bielefeldt

Jul 31, 2024

What is the warning sign before kidney failure? I could not locate it in the article.

Reply
1. Jordan Simonson
  
  Aug 8, 2024
  
  Hi David, The kidneys are very good at making up for lost function and people can get all the way to complete failure before they have any symptoms. The only way to know what is going on in the kidneys is with blood and urine tests. -Thank you, Jordan
  
  Reply
Deetje Wildes

Jun 24, 2017

Question: How do you define "red meat"? After my grandfather had a stroke, I recall watching him carefully remove the fat from a slice of bacon and eating the lean part. Do you have any suggestions on ways to eat meat in a more healthy way? Are some meats better than others? How about lamb?

Reply
1. Kirsten Shakal, Shine365 Editor
  
  Jun 26, 2017
  
  Hey, Deetje. Great questions – You'll find answers to all your above questions in this article about the connection between meat and cancer: https://shine365.marshfieldclinic.org/cancer-care/meat-and-cancer/
  
  To summarize portions of the story for you:
  "Red meat includes beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse and goat."
  
  Additionally:
  "Red meat, which provides protein and vitamin B12 for a healthy brain and nervous system, still can be included as part of a healthy diet, dietitian Chrisanne Urban said. Onitilo agreed: 'If you don’t eat any meat, you may have other health problems to contend with.'”
  
  I hope the article I shared helps. Please let me know if you have followup questions, and thank you for reading Shine365. -Kirstie
  
  Reply