How to protect your kidneys? Don’t mistake kidney disease for kidney deficiency! Remember these 8 things

Xiao Chen, 32 years old, likes to drink. He would have a drink when he is in a good mood, and get drunk when he is in a bad mood. As he did not pay attention to drinking properly for a long time, he developed gout over time.

A week ago, Xiao Chen's gout recurred. In order to relieve the pain, he took a large dose of uric acid-lowering drugs on his own. Unexpectedly, he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit soon after, and had severe stomach pain. So he hurried to the pharmacy and bought some drugs to treat acute gastroenteritis.

As a result, Xiao Chen's symptoms did not improve, and he had no choice but to go to the hospital for treatment.

After biochemical examination, the report showed that Xiao Chen's creatinine was as high as 900.6umol/L and uric acid was as high as 872.7umol/L, which were many times higher than the normal values.

Based on the medical history, symptoms and examination results, the doctor finally diagnosed it as acute renal injury .

"I thought that gout would get better as long as I took medicine. I didn't give it too much thought, and I didn't expect the consequences would be so serious. I will never dare to take medicine carelessly again." Xiao Chen said regretfully.

After Xiao Chen was admitted to the hospital, medical staff took timely intervention measures and provided Xiao Chen with treatments such as lowering uric acid, anti-infection, pain relief, and prevention of complications. After a series of standardized treatments, his indicators gradually returned to normal, and he has now recovered and been discharged from the hospital.

Doctors remind: Patients must not take medicine indiscriminately, and must take medicine according to the doctor's orders.

Taking medicine as ordered by your doctor is important, firstly to ensure the efficacy of the medicine, and secondly to ensure the safety of the medicine.

Many painkillers, cold medicines, antibiotics and Chinese herbal medicines on the market today are toxic and can damage the kidneys. Do not take them without a doctor's diagnosis and guidance, and do not be superstitious or trust folk remedies. Otherwise, you may damage your kidneys unknowingly.

The kidneys, like the heart, work non-stop every day, but people pay far less attention to the kidneys than the heart or other organs. Some even simply mistake physical inconvenience for kidney deficiency.

However, chronic kidney disease has become one of the major diseases threatening public health worldwide.

Epidemiological data suggest that there are up to 120 million chronic kidney disease patients among adults in China, with a prevalence rate of 10.8%. In other words, one in every 10 Chinese people has chronic kidney disease.

In sharp contrast to such a high incidence rate, the awareness and diagnosis rate of chronic kidney disease among the population is only 12.5%, and the vast majority of patients lose their kidney function in "ignorance".

Common manifestations of kidney disease

01 Excessive or insufficient urine volume, edema, frequent urination, urgent urination, painful urination, foam in the urine, dull pain in the kidney area, renal colic, hematuria, proteinuria, hypertension, etc.

02Chronic kidney disease can also cause anemia, osteoporosis, etc.

03When the kidneys fail, excess fluid, waste, and toxins accumulate in the body, causing long-term and irreparable damage to the body's cells. In order to prolong life, dialysis or kidney transplantation is needed to replace the function of the kidneys.

How to protect kidney health? Remember these 8 things

01Do not take medicine without permission

As the saying goes, every medicine is poisonous.

Although drugs can treat diseases and alleviate symptoms to a certain extent, long-term intake can also have certain negative effects on human health.

Do not take medicine without a doctor's prescription , as this will hinder kidney function, especially painkillers, which should not be taken blindly.

At the same time, do not increase the dosage of medication at will . This will not only not make you recover faster, but may also increase the possibility of kidney damage, which is irreversible.

Since kidney tissue cells do not regenerate after being damaged, when the kidneys are severely damaged, their reserve capacity gradually decreases, and the consequences will be very serious.

In addition, patients with kidney disease should not take any folk remedies at random, but must go to a regular hospital for examination to avoid worsening of the disease or delay in treatment.

02Don’t overeat

Avoid eating too much high-protein, high-sodium foods, such as seafood, animal offal, and pickled foods.

If you eat too much protein and salt, the derivatives produced, such as uric acid and urea nitrogen, will need to be eliminated by the kidneys, which will increase the burden on the kidneys. If this continues for a long time, it will damage kidney health, especially for those who already have kidney disease.

The recommended daily protein intake is between 1.5 and 2 grams per kilogram of body weight , which is sufficient for daily health needs of ordinary people.

03Drink water in moderation and don’t hold your urine

Drinking a moderate amount of water and not holding urine can prevent kidney stones.

Daily urine volume should be maintained at around 1500~2000 ml , about 4~5 times during the day and about 0~1 time at night. If urine stays in the bladder for too long, bacteria are likely to multiply, and the bacteria are likely to infect the kidneys through the ureters, causing pyelonephritis, etc.

It is generally recommended to drink boiled water . You can drink a glass of warm boiled water every morning to replenish water to the kidneys in time.

In addition, it is also important to note that people with a history of kidney disease should be careful when drinking beverages that contain extra electrolytes and salt. It is recommended that they try not to drink or drink less.

04Control chronic diseases

Chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension can damage the kidneys and cause chronic kidney disease, while kidney disease can aggravate the symptoms of diabetes and hypertension.

The kidneys are made up of millions of glomeruli (microvessels). Long-term uncontrolled high blood pressure will continuously damage the arteries and microvessels of the kidneys, and diabetes will cause slow but unstoppable hardening of the patient's blood vessels, especially the microvessels. Therefore, people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension should pay attention to controlling their condition and do regular urine tests.

According to statistics, 50.5% of patients with diabetes, 27.1% of patients with hypertension, and 33.7% of patients with a history of kidney disease will develop chronic kidney disease ; and 1/4 to 1/5 of patients with uremia on dialysis are caused by end-stage diabetes.

Therefore, if you have hypertension or diabetes, it is very important to control your blood pressure and blood sugar within a safe range.

05Avoid Streptococcus Infection

When streptococcal infections occur in the throat, tonsils and other parts of the body, they should be treated immediately with sensitive antibiotics. Never give up halfway and do not stop or change the dosage at will . Otherwise, recurrent streptococcal infections can easily lead to kidney inflammation. Children need to pay more attention to this. If necessary, consider removing the tonsils as soon as possible.

06Regular physical examination

Most early symptoms of kidney disease are not obvious, and patients are often unaware that they have the disease. By the time they feel unwell, it is likely that they have reached the end stage of the disease.

Clinical data show that, under normal circumstances, obvious clinical symptoms will only appear when the degree of kidney function damage reaches more than 70%.

Therefore, check your weight, blood pressure, etc. regularly to detect edema and high blood pressure in time.

It is best to have urine tests, blood creatinine and urea nitrogen tests every six months to detect and treat various kidney diseases early.

In addition, when a woman is pregnant, the burden on her kidneys will increase significantly, which can lead to kidney dysfunction. Therefore , it is recommended that every female friend check for kidney disease when preparing for pregnancy to avoid developing uremia due to preeclampsia.

07Kidney disease is not kidney deficiency

The kidneys are part of the urinary system, which is not the same concept as kidney deficiency mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine.

Male sex hormones are mainly secreted by the testicles, while female sex hormones are mainly secreted by the ovaries.

The kidneys of men and women can be transplanted into each other, which shows that there is no direct relationship between kidneys and gender and sexual function. Therefore, don't think that kidney deficiency means kidney disease.

08 Don't overwork yourself

Although life lies in movement, increasing physical exercise can improve the body's metabolism, improve blood circulation, and is beneficial to human health, but excessive physical labor will also increase metabolism, produce more metabolic products, and increase the metabolic burden on the kidneys.

According to the clinical situation of chronic nephritis patients, about 70% of nephritis patients' illness is related to long-term overwork.

When people are tired, coupled with work and mental stress, it is easy for their resistance to decline, leading to bacterial and viral infections, which in turn cause kidney damage, swelling of the lower limbs and eyelids, proteinuria, and even high blood pressure and dizziness.

Patients who already suffer from kidney disease should avoid overwork. Excessive exercise can also lead to rhabdomyolysis and damage the kidneys, and in severe cases, cause acute kidney damage.

【References】

[1] Qiu Yijun, Zhu Chengwei. Observation on the effect of community-family-self-management in patients with early chronic kidney disease [J]. Health Management, 2017, 7 (14): 241-242

[2] Huang Suzhen, Lu Lixin. Prevention strategies for chronic kidney disease [J]. Chinese and Foreign Health Digest, 2009, 6 (35): 262-263

[3] Xiao Shuang. Cherish life and protect kidneys [J] Kaijuanyi (Seeking Medical Advice), 2010, (3): 14-15

[4] Wang Qiling. Take good care of your kidneys [J]. Health Expo, 2006, (5): 22-23