Kidney Problems Overview

Kidney Problems Overview

Kidney health is becoming increasingly important in today's society, because of the epidemic proportions of adult onset diabetes. It's currently estimated that one in nine Americans have some form of chronic kidney disease, and millions more are at risk. Kidney diseases and problems start slowly though, and develop over long periods of time. By taking care of your kidneys - along with the rest of your body - as early as possible in your life, you can slow or prevent the progression of many of the most common problems.

The kidneys are what filters toxins and wastes out of our bloodstream. When our body has processed the foods we eat, it sends the wastes and toxins to the blood stream. The kidneys then filter that blood. The clean blood goes back to our body, and the wastes filtered out are made into urine and sent to the bladder.

Our kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood each day, and they make approximately 2 quarts or urine from the wastes filtered each day as well. When the kidneys are not working properly, many health problems can occur. These can range from kidney infections and kidney stones, to kidney diseases which include symptoms such as as skin rashes, swelling, itching, dizziness, exhaustion, and pain.

The kidneys have tiny little blood vessels and tubes which work as the filters for our blood stream. When someone has high blood pressure, those little blood vessels can be damaged and not work properly.

When someone has diabetes, the excess glucose, or blood sugar, stays in our blood stream and can act like a poison to the rest of our body. This extra blood sugar can then damage the filtering mechanisms inside the kidneys. This condition is known as Diabetic Nephropathy.

There are other things that can cause health problems with your kidneys too, and these are often an injury, poison, or certain prescription and over the counter pain medications. Combining acetaminophen and aspirin, aleve, or ibuprofen for instance, can cause kidney disease and failure when taken over long periods of time or in high doses.

Chronic kidney diseases can also come from having chronic kidney infections and stones which injure the kidney tissues.

Caring for your body in general is important, but the kidneys are an especially important organ to keep healthy. Without their filtering functionality, the body cannot live.

There are many things you can do to help keep your kidneys healthy, and we'll review some of the easiest home, natural and herbal approaches in this series.

Common Kidney Health Issues

The most common kidney health problems seen today are kidney infections and kidney stones. There are kidney diseases as well though, and some of these are hereditary while others are caused by other medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Chronic Kidney diseases and failure have become more common in fact, because of the increase in cases of diabetes and high blood pressure - both of which can damage the functionality of your kidneys.

When someone has high blood pressure, it can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys. These blood vessels are needed as part of the body's toxin and waste filtering process, so when they're damaged the kidneys are unable to operate properly. Diabetes causes a similar problem. When the body's blood sugar levels stay too high, that glucose in the blood can act as a poison to the system. And the poison will damage the filtering tubes inside the kidneys, thus making the kidneys unable to filter the toxins and wastes properly.

Unfortunately the cycle is somewhat vicious. People with diabetes have lowered immune system functionality, and this makes them more susceptible to infections. And kidney infections can damage the kidneys or make them fail completely when left untreated.

Kidney infections are often started with a bladder infection. A bladder infection that is not treated or spreads quickly can travel up the ureter tubes which connect the kidneys to the bladder. Bladder infections can also cause kidney infections in people whose immune system resistance is low or not working well too.

Conditions which put people more at risk for kidney infections include pregnancy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, kidney stones, poor hygiene, intercourse for women, and catheter tubes.

Kidney stones are another common health problem for many people, and often they're chronic too. This means the problem keeps coming back regularly. Kidney stones can be more of a problem for people who have family members with frequent kidney stone problems. Anyone with chronic kidney diseases are also more at risk though, as are people who have poor dietary habits or who let themselves become too dehydrated.

Most kidney stones are formed by calcium deposits which aren't diluted enough to be flushed from the system. When these calcium deposits gather together, they form sharp crystal like substances. Those crystals can join together further, to form hard stones.

Many people get kidney stones without knowing it, because the stones are small enough to be passed through the urinary tract system and out of the body through the urine. When the stones are large however, and they try to travel to the bladder for elimination from the body, they can get stuck in the narrow ureter tubes which connect the kidneys and the bladder. When these stones get stuck, it can cause severe pain, and sometimes even block the flow of urine.

Standard Kidney Medical Treatments

There are many types of treatments for kidney health problems and diseases. The best course of action is always prevention of course, and one of the best ways to prevent many kidney problems is to simply drink more fluids. When your body gets dehydrated, calcium or other types of deposits can form easier into kidney stones. The lack of fluid also allows germs and bacteria to take hold in the kidneys and cause infections.

Since many kidney diseases are caused by diabetes and high blood sugar, another common course of treatment for kidney health problems is to try to control the blood sugar and blood pressure levels in your body. These types of changes can often be controlled well with foods, exercise, and herbal treatments. There are of course many prescription medications used too, and there are surgical procedures used for some kidney problems as well.

Kidney infections are treated just like any other infection in the body: With broad spectrum antibiotics. Since these medications have the side effect of lowering your body's immune system however, the can unfortunately put you at risk for other types of infections. Some people simply have kidney infection after kidney infection each time the antibiotics are stopped.

A more natural alternative for treating kidney infections is to use herbal antibiotics. These herbs don't lower your body's immune system, so there is less risk of having chronic recurring kidney infections, and there is often no other types of infections that come along once the kidney infection is gone too.

The best herbal antibiotics are Garlic and Goldenseal. Mixing Garlic with Cayenne is actually one of the most potent natural antibiotics you can get, because garlic contains a compound which is 15 times stronger than standard pennicilin. Cayenne is a catalyst which helps your body to start healing faster.

Kidney stones are treated in a variety of ways by medical doctors. Sometimes a special tool is used to try and break up the stones from outside the body. This tool sends special shockwaves from outside your body, aimed at the location of the kidney stone, and attempts to break the stones into smaller pieces so they're able to pass naturally through your urine.

Often however, the doctors will insert special tubes into your bladder called stents, which are designed to help the kidney stones pass. If the kidney stones are unable to be reached with the shockwave treatment tool, the doctor might instead perform a surgery which involves tunneling in through your back to the kidney, then breaking up and extracting the stones from that incision.

Many people find they can break up their kidney stones by using simple home remedies and natural treatments though. Examples of treatments people have found successful over the years include drinking pure lemon juice, lemon juice mixed with olive oil, or drinking large amounts of coca cola soda.

Kidney Infections

Anything that reduces your immune system strength and functionality can make you more prone to kidney infections. It's a common problem with pregnant women particularly, but diabetics and people with HIV or cancer have lowered immune systems and can often get kidney infections too.

For women, sexual intercourse can sometimes cause a bladder infection which will migrate to the kidneys and cause infections there too. Bladder infections can also be gotten easier by women who do not wipe properly after a bowel movement.

There are also catheter tubes used in hospitals which are inserted into the bladder and used to drain urine. If these are left in too long they can cause bladder infections, and the germs from that infection can travel to the kidneys and multiply into an infection there as well.

Some kidney infections come on quite fast, and these are known as acute kidney infections. They often have severe symptoms of pain, fever, vomiting, and the constant urge to urinate but being unable to. Acute kidney infections often come to an end quickly.

Chronic kidney infections however, often start slowly and sometimes show no symptoms at all for a while. It does continue growing and getting worse though, and can lead to kidney failure if left untreated. Chronic kidney infections often take awhile to clear up too.

Keeping plenty of fluids moving through your body is one of the best ways to prevent kidney infections. When fluid is constantly being moved through, the germs are unable to stay around and multiply because they're flushed out of your body instead. Simply drinking a minimum of two quarts of water each day is usually enough to help most people avoid getting kidney infections. If you develop a bladder infection however, it's a good idea to double your water intake until that infection has cleared up.

Cranberries and cranberry juice are also wonderful natural treatments for keeping the kidneys healthier, as is lemon juice.

If you need help flushing fluids through your kidneys and urinary tract system, you can use medications known as diuretics. These medicines help your body produce more urine, and thus carry more toxins out of your system. Prescription diuretics have some side effects however, one of which is the depletion of potassium levels in your blood. Natural diuretics don't have this problem though, because the two best: Kelp and Parsley, are also naturally high in potassium.

Kelp gives you the added benefit of increased infection fighting, because it's high in natural iodine and it stimulates your thyroid. The thyroid uses the extra iodine from the Kelp to help fight the germs and bacteria which are causing an infection in your body.

Juniper Berries is another herb which is excellent for caring for your kidneys. This herb helps clear congestion from both the kidneys and the bladder, plus it helps heal the urinary passageways. Uva Ursi is an herb which helps stimulate, strengthen and tone the kidneys too.

Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are caused by the formation of crystal like substances inside your kidney. When those crystal substances come together and grow, they form stones inside your body. These stones can be inside your kidney, or they can try to travel down the ureters tubes which carry urine to your bladder. When these stones are too large to pass through the narrow tubes, severe pain results and sometimes a full blockage will occur as well.

There are four types of kidney stones which can develop, but one of those is caused by a rare hereditary disease. Of the other three though, the most common type of kidney stone seen in 80% of cases, is a calcium based stone.

The cases of kidney stones has increased over the last thirty years, but it's not quite known why. Some speculate that dietary changes play a major role in this increase, while others think it may be due to improvements in the ability to diagnose problems like this. Whatever the reason, there are things you can do to help prevent kidney stones, and sometimes the stones can be dissolved by natural means as well.

The risks of getting kidney stones is thought to be hereditary though. If someone in your family has a history of kidney stones, you're more likely to have the problems too. Anyone who has had kidney stones at least once though, has a greatly increased chance of getting them again. And anyone with a chronic kidney disease is also more at risk for getting recurring kidney stones.

Kidney stones are more common in men than women, and certain medications can make the risks higher. Dehydration however, is one major factor in the development of kidney stones, and that's actually what causes some medications to have this effect on people. If the medication dehydrates you, or you're dehydrated in general from not getting enough fluids each day, then kidney stones can form simply because there's not enough fluid to dilute the substances inside your body which make the stones form.

So the biggest, and completely natural way to prevent kidney stone formation is to simply drink enough water or other fluids. Drinking plenty of water helps keep the calcium deposits from being able to gather together into stones, so they'll be continuously flushed out of your system before problems can arise.

Since most kidney stones are calcium based though, you can help prevent the formation of these types of stones by drinking lemon water. Put a bit of real lemon juice in your tea each morning, or mix it into a glass of water, and drink it when you first get up each day. This small amount of lemon juice will help prevent stones from forming, and it will help dissolve any stones which have already started forming.

In fact, lemon juice is the number one home remedy for dissolving existing kidney stones. Some people mix two ounces of fresh lemon juice with two ounces of virgin olive oil, then drink that down. The pain caused by the kidney stones is usually gone in less than an hour, and the stones dissolve within 12-15 hours after that.

Not everyone can stomach the olive oil though. It makes them very nauseous. Drinking simple lemon juice by itself is usually enough in most cases though, so you can leave out the olive oil if need be.

This remedy usually works with just calcium based stones, and since it dissolves the stones, not everyone will feel the kidney stones pass. Some people feel as if their urine is gritty or sandy though, and this is because the dissolved pieces of the stones are being passed in your urine.

Herbal Remedies for Kidney Problems

There are many natural and herbal ways to help keep your kidneys healthy. And as we've stated in previous articles, one of the best ways to help your kidneys stay healthy is to simply drink more water. When you drink plenty of fluids each day, this helps your kidneys continuously flush out the toxins, wastes and bacteria from your body which can cause disease, infections, and kidney stones.

There are herbs which can help keep your kidneys healthy too though. Some of these are simply natural, herbal diuretics. Diuretics help your kidneys produce more urine, which as we've said will help flush out toxins from your body. Prescription diuretics unfortunately have side effects which can cause other problems. Dehydration is a concern in most cases for instance, and dehydration can actually cause you to develop kidney stones.

Potassium deficiencies are another common problem with diuretics though, and when your body is low in potassium this can cause other health problems. The herbal diuretics don't usually have those same problems though. In fact, two of the best herbal diuretics are actually high in natural potassium themselves.

Kelp is one of the most known herbal diuretics. This herb is quite high in natural potassium, iodine, iron, and various vitamins and minerals your body needs.

Parsley is another herb which is a natural diuretic, yet it too is quite high in potassium and many other vitamins and minerals.

Juniper Berries is another herbal diuretic. It not only helps increase the urine flow from your kidneys, but it also helps to clear congestion from the kidneys and urinary tract system too.

Ginger is an herb which is often used for cooking and flavoring foods, yet it is an excellent herb to use for cleansing the kidneys.

Uva Ursi is an excellent all natural herb which tends to be particularly effective in treating kidney problems. This herb stimulates the functionality of the kidneys while also strengthening and toning the urinary tract passageways. This herb is also known for helping to clear out kidney stones too.

Whether you choose to use herbal diuretics or you decide to try some of the kidney specific health herbs, remember to keep drinking more water. This can't be over stated enough when it comes to helping with kidney problems. You should drink at least a half gallon of water each day when you're healthy. If you have a kidney problem already though, you need to be drinking about twice that amount, or roughly one gallon of water each day, unless your doctor tells you not to. The only time it can be a problem to drink that much fluids is if your kidneys are not functioning or your urinary tract is blocked completely.

Also be sure to tell your doctor if you're using herbal diuretics, because mixing them with prescription versions might make you too dehydrated.

Home Remedies for Kidney Problems

One of the most painful experiences anyone can have, is to get kidney stones. In fact, many women claim the kidney stones are even more painful than childbirth. Kidney infections can be quite painful as well though, and since both of these problems tend to be worse at night time, when either health condition arises, people start searching for immediate relief.

Thankfully there are several home remedies for both kidney stones and kidney infections. Not all work well for everyone though, and some work to a degree, but not as well as they have for other people.

One of the reasons home remedies don't always work is because everyone's body is different. Just as some people can have allergic reactions to prescription medications while other people have no problems with them, the same can happen with home, natural and herbal remedies too.

One of the biggest reasons that home remedies for kidney stones don't work for everyone though, is because there are several different types of kidney stones that can develop. In about 80% of kidney stone cases, the stones are made up of calcium deposits. And these can be dissolved naturally in a number of ways. If you develop another kind of kidney stones however, the standard home remedies may or may not work as well for you.

Now, whether you have a kidney infection or kidney stones, one of the best home remedies you can and should try first is to drink plenty of fluids. If your kidney stones are not large enough to be blocking the passage of urine, then forcing your body to create extra urine can help move the kidney stone out of your system.

If you have a kidney infection, drinking extra fluids can help flush the germs and bacteria out of your system faster.

If the kidney stone is large enough to create a lot of pain, it is most likely too large to go through your ureter tubes easily. One of the best known home remedies for this though, will help relieve the pain of the stone plus help it to break up and dissolve so that it can be passed easily.

This remedy is just simple lemon juice. Not lemon flavored drinks though, real lemon juice is what's needed. Drink at least two ounces, and the kidney stone pain is usually gone within 15-20 minutes. The stone itself often dissolves within about 12-15 hours too.

Some people mix the two ounces of lemon juice with two ounces of virgin olive oil. This can make you feel sick to your stomach, but many people swear by this remedy. Usually the lemon juice alone will do the trick though.

Other people use a coca cola home remedy. The acid in this drink is said to dissolve kidney stones too, and some people have had success by simply drinking a lot at once. It's not the healthiest approach of course, but it has been reported to work well for breaking up kidney stones.

Natural Remedies for Kidney Problems

You've probably heard this too many times to count, but it can't be stressed enough where kidney problems are concerned. You must increase the amount of water you drink. If you have a kidney infection or kidney stones, increasing the amount of water you drink can help flush the problem out of your body.

With a kidney infection, germs and bacteria take up residence within your kidney and multiple. Drinking extra water helps your kidneys be able to flush those germs and bacteria out of your body, taking the infection along with it.

Kidney stones are accumulations of waste materials from your body. Often these are created by calcium, but sometimes they can be created by too much protein or because you've had chronic urinary infections. These deposits can be kept from forming though, by keeping them diluted with extra water.

Now you don't have to technically drink water all day, but that is the best option. Drink at least a half gallon of plain water each day if at all possible. You can add real lemon juice to the water though, and this will give you flavor as well as provide your body with a way to help keep kidney stones from forming, because lemon juice dissolves kidney stones. Lemon juice is also a natural antiseptic, which means it can help prevent bacteria from multiplying into an infection within your kidneys.

You can also drink teas and juices if you'd like, because these are sources of liquid and liquid is the primary thing your body needs to keep your kidneys healthy. Try to avoid drinks with excess sugars though, because this can create a whole host of additional health problems which will eventually lead to creating kidney problems too.

If you drink caffeinated tea or coffee, you'll need to drink extra water. Caffeine can dehydrate your body, and if you're dehydrated you'll be more prone to developing kidney stones.

Since about 80% of kidney stones are made up of calcium oxalate, some people avoid foods high in oxalate as a natural way to avoid chronic kidney stones and infections. Foods high in oxalate include different types of berries such as blueberries and strawberries, instant coffee, chocolate, and dark leafy green vegetables.

It used to be believed that avoiding calcium rich foods would also help reduce chronic kidney stone problems, but that belief is starting to change. Some evidence now suggests that calcium rich foods can actually help prevent the development of kidney stones, but excess Vitamin D or Calcium supplements might cause problems because they're not absorbed well by your body.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

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