Kidney failure - acute renal failure

The health of the kidneys is veryimportant since they have the role to clean the body from the wastes and excesswater, as well as to produce certain hormones that maintain the health of the bonesand blood. As we all know, we can function with one kidney only when one fails, but the body cannot function without both kidneys. Therefore, people with bothkidneys malfunctioning must frequently go on dialyses. The kidney transplantation isnecessary when the both kidneys fail to perform their function.

Acute renal failure

Renal failure is a condition that happensin situations when the kidneys stop to function properly due to certain factors. The kidney failuremay be either acute or chronic, but regardless of the type, this condition might cause several healthcomplications, such as excessive amounts of fluids in the body, unbalanced acidlevels, high levels of certain minerals like potassium, calcium and phosphateand eventually anemia.

Causes of acute renal failure

It is observed that in most cases, acute renal failure is caused by one of the three main causes.

Acute renal failure occurs due to asudden extreme drop in the blood supply to the kidneys, which usually happensas a result of an injury, blood loss and sepsis. The kidneys may also besignificantly impaired by dehydration.Another cause for the incidence of acuterenal failure is the kidneys’ damage due to some drugs, toxins and infections. Theprolonged use of antibiotics, painkillers and ACE inhibitors may lead to thedamage of the kidneys and eventually, to the acute renal failure.The third major cause for theappearance of this kidney disorder is a sudden obstruction that prevents the urineto flow out of the kidneys. The blockage may be caused either by the kidneystones or the kidney tumor, but also by an injury and the prostate gland enlargementin men.

The people who suffer from obesity,some kidney or liver disease and hypertension, as well as from diabetes and heartfailure, are at high risk to experience the acute renal failure.

Symptoms of acute renal failure

In the early phases of acute renalfailure, there is hardly any symptom present and therefore, this condition israrely diagnosed in the early stage. Nevertheless, as the condition progresses, several symptoms start to emerge, such as frequent urination or lack of urine,loss of appetite, the skin turns darker and the hands and feet become swollen. The most serious symptoms of acuterenal failure are coma and seizures.