World Kidney Day | Take a look at the kidneys

World Kidney Day is jointly proposed by the International Society of Nephrology and the International Kidney Foundation Alliance and is celebrated on the second Thursday of March each year. This year, March 11 is the 17th World Kidney Day.

The kidney is an important organ of the human body, but in recent years the incidence of kidney disease has been rising, in order to improve the public's knowledge of kidney disease, today, please come with me to understand our kidneys!

Understanding the kidneys

The kidneys are paired lentil-shaped organs, reddish-brown in color, located in the shallow fossa on either side of the retroperitoneal spine.

The basic function of the kidneys is to produce urine to remove metabolites and certain wastes and poisons from the body, and to retain water and other useful substances such as glucose, protein, amino acids, sodium ions, potassium ions and sodium bicarbonate through reabsorption to regulate water and electrolyte balance and maintain acid-base balance.

The kidney also has endocrine functions, producing renin, erythropoietin, active vitamin D3, prostaglandins, kinins, etc. It is also a degradation site for some endocrine hormones and a target organ for extra-renal hormones. These functions of the kidney ensure the stability of the body's internal environment and enable normal metabolism.

Common manifestations of chronic kidney disease

1. Edema

Edema is a characteristic manifestation of kidney disease and one of the most common symptoms of patients visiting nephrology, and many patients see nephrology because of edema.

Oedema is most common in two areas: loose tissues such as eyelids and facial edema; and low locations such as lower limbs edema.

2. Foam in urine

Generally speaking, normal people have clear, slightly yellow urine with no foam or a small amount of foam, but if the urine is high in protein and sugar it will foam up, and in severe cases it resembles hops.

Foam in urine is not always proteinuria and diabetes, but severe proteinuria and diabetes will appear foamy urine, find foamy urine must go to the hospital to check urinary routine.

3. Blood in urine

In a few cases, there is severe hematuria, which can be seen with the naked eye, or even worse, the color of blood, and you can see blood clots, which is called "hematuria with the naked eye".

In other cases, the urine is dark red or soy sauce colored, which is usually seen in acute rhabdomyolysis or acute hemolysis.

If you have blood in the eyes or soy sauce-colored urine, you should usually go to the hospital at the first opportunity. In most cases, there are only a few red blood cells in the urine, which cannot be seen with the naked eye and can only be seen through a microscope, called "microscopic hematuria. Like proteinuria, microscopic hematuria is also detected by urinalysis.

4. Hypertension

High blood pressure, especially in young people, should be suspected of kidney problems. Often referred to as hypertension, if not specifically stated, refers to primary hypertension, which mostly develops after the age of 40.

In contrast, hypertension can also occur after kidney damage, and this type of hypertension is called renal hypertension. Renal hypertension is hypertension caused by various chronic kidney diseases, mainly divided into renal parenchymal hypertension and renal vascular hypertension.

Because hypertension and renal disease are closely related and are mutual causes and aggravating factors, controlling hypertension can delay the progression of chronic kidney disease, protect kidney function, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

5. Changes in urine output

Normal adult urine volume in 24 hours is about 1500ml, less than 700ml is called reduced urine volume, less than 400ml is called oliguria, less than 100ml is called anuria, and more than 2500ml is called polyuria.

Ninety-nine percent of the water excreted by the glomerulus is reabsorbed by the renal tubules, and the urine secreted at night is almost completely reabsorbed, so normal people have no urine at night.

However, when the renal tubular damage, the reabsorption ability is reduced, and the amount of nocturnal urine increases (habitually getting up 2-3 times or more each night, and the amount of nocturnal urine is greater than 1 + 3 of the total 24-hour urine volume, called nocturia).

6. Frequent, urgent and painful urination

Frequent urination, urgent urination and painful urination, collectively called urinary tract irritation signs, are characteristic manifestations of urinary tract infection and one of the common manifestations of kidney disease.

7. Pale face, general weakness

If out pale face and general weakness, it does not exclude the appearance of anemia.

In more serious kidney disease, renal anemia will appear after the glomerular filtration rate is less than 60 ml/min, which is manifested by pale face, pale conjunctiva, pale and lusterless lips and nails. Moreover, the severity of anemia is often consistent with the degree of renal hypofunction.

Generally speaking, because of physiological reasons, young and middle-aged women are more prone to anemia, while anemia in men is less common. If a man develops anemia, he should always have his kidney function checked.

8. Osteoporosis, recurrent fractures

Vitamin D produced by the skin after ultraviolet radiation needs to be activated by the kidneys to be active. Therefore, when kidney function is impaired, a series of calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorders such as calcium deficiency, high blood phosphorus, osteoporosis and recurrent fractures in severe osteoporosis can occur.

How to protect the kidneys

1. Regular physical examination to understand the kidneys

Urine routine is the most basic screening tool, most kidney diseases can be detected from urine routine examination. Urine tests should be done every six months or once a year.

2. Eliminate risk factors

Control blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, blood uric acid ina safe range, prevent respiratory and urinary system infections, and use drugs carefully.

Eat reasonably, less salt, 6g per day is best; low fat, 50g per day is best; limit alcohol; reduce sedentary time; don't hold urine often, because bacteria can easily multiply when holding urine and cause urinary tract infections.

Next, do not stay up late; should quit smoking, long-term smoking will increase the risk of hypertension, which can lead to kidney disease.

In addition, pay attention to the right amount of exercise every day, do not over-exercise, inappropriate exercise will induce rhabdomyolysis, and even lead to acute renal failure.

These will make the kidneys do not get rest for a long time, which will increase the burden on the kidneys and lead to kidney damage.

3. Pay attention to early kidney disease signals

Some early signs of kidney disease: edema, foamy urine, abnormal urine color, increased blood pressure, increased nocturia, back pain, bad complexion, fatigue, etc.; some other patients are found to have high blood pressure, proteinuria, hematuria and abnormal kidney function during physical examination.

4. Reasonable diagnosis and treatment

If your kidneys have become diseased, you may want to seek help from the doctor in the hospital.

Source: Jilin 12320