A Kidney's Monologue

My name is kidney, an organ that you have paid attention to but don’t understand well.

I live in the upper back of the abdominal cavity, on both sides of the spine. My skin is yellow-brown. They say I look like a broad bean, but I think I look more like Uncle Benshan. I am a twin, one sister on the left and the other on the right. My job is mainly to regulate endocrine and maintain the balance of water and electrolytes in your body. As a hard-working "worker", I am tired and have no holidays.

I am strong, consisting of more than 1 million nephrons, each of which includes three parts: glomerulus, renal capsule and renal tubule. I am fragile, in China, 10.8% of adults suffer from chronic kidney disease, but only 12.5% ​​of people know about this disease.

I am very "sensible". Like you who work away from home, I always report good news but not bad news, and even handle everything by myself. With a strong "compensation" ability, you will only show symptoms when my damage exceeds 50%. So, under normal circumstances, you can't feel my pain and see my tears.

There are many "bad guys" who have hurt me. For example, nephrotic syndrome, polycystic kidney disease, glomerulonephritis, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, smoking or old age, everyone can hurt me. If I don't cherish it and let me continue to be hurt, when the "glomerular filtration rate" is less than 15mL/min/1.73m2, I will fail, and the consequences will be serious.

If you want to protect me, you need to have a healthy lifestyle. If I am still healthy, then please quit smoking and drinking, exercise regularly, and maintain a good life for me. If I have been injured, then I need you to adjust your lifestyle, manage nutrition, control urine protein, high blood pressure and other symptoms, and soothe my trauma.

Only you can give me a bright future. I will accompany you for the rest of my life, and never leave you! (Author: Zhang Lin, Henan Provincial People's Hospital)