Can patients with kidney disease smoke? What are the dangers of smoking?

Kidney disease patients cannot smoke. Smoking has many harmful effects on kidney disease patients, as follows:

Aggravate kidney damage

- Impact on renal blood flow: Nicotine and other harmful substances in cigarettes can cause blood vessels to constrict, including those in the kidneys. This can lead to reduced renal blood flow, insufficient blood perfusion to the kidneys, and a decrease in glomerular filtration rate, which in turn aggravates the ischemic and hypoxic state of the kidneys and accelerates the progression of kidney disease.

- Damage to vascular endothelium: Smoking damages vascular endothelial cells and causes endothelial dysfunction in renal blood vessels. This promotes the formation of atherosclerosis, leading to renal artery sclerosis, further affecting the blood supply and function of the kidneys. For patients with kidney disease, the already fragile renal blood vessels are more vulnerable to damage, increasing the risk of worsening renal function.

Reduced immunity

- Damage to the immune system: Smoking weakens the body's immune system, making kidney patients more vulnerable to various pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, which can lead to infection. Kidney patients already have relatively low immunity, and smoking further reduces immunity, leading to an increased incidence of infection, which in turn aggravates kidney disease, forming a vicious cycle.

- Affecting the efficacy of drugs: Smoking may also affect the metabolism and absorption of drugs in the body, reducing the efficacy of drugs for kidney disease treatment. This makes it difficult for kidney patients to effectively control their condition through drugs, increasing the difficulty and complexity of treatment.

Increased risk of complications

- Cardiovascular complications: Smoking is one of the important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Kidney patients are prone to cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension and coronary heart disease. Smoking will further increase the risk of these cardiovascular complications, making the patient's condition more complicated and dangerous. Cardiovascular disease is one of the common causes of death in kidney patients, and smoking is undoubtedly worse.

- Lung disease: Long-term smoking can lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other lung diseases. Due to the decreased body resistance, kidney patients are more susceptible to lung diseases. Lung diseases can affect the patient's respiratory function, causing hypoxia, which in turn increases the burden on the kidneys and is extremely detrimental to the recovery and stability of kidney disease.

Other hazards

- Impact on nutrient absorption: Smoking affects appetite and reduces the intake of nutrients by kidney patients. At the same time, smoking may also interfere with the body's absorption and utilization of certain nutrients, such as antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C and vitamin E, which play an important role in protecting kidney cells from oxidative damage. Insufficient nutrient intake and poor absorption will affect the body's recovery and immunity of kidney patients, which is not conducive to the control of the disease.

- Cancer risk: Smoking is a clear risk factor for many cancers, such as lung cancer, bladder cancer, etc. Since kidney patients are in a diseased state, their risk of cancer may increase. Smoking will further increase this risk and pose a greater threat to the patient's health.

Smoking is harmful to kidney patients. In order to protect kidney function, slow down the progression of kidney disease and improve the quality of life, kidney patients must resolutely quit smoking and avoid inhaling secondhand smoke. At the same time, family and friends should also provide support and supervision to help patients develop healthy living habits.