Natural Health Alternatives

There are 26 million Americans with kidney disease. One out of nine Americans is affected. As of 2008 there were half a million people in this country on life-sustaining dialysis.

If you have history of diabetes, high blood pressure, or family history of kidney disease, you are at risk of chronic kidney disease.

The recent Jackson Heart Study published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease, the official journal of National Kidney Foundation, reports in this group of people the percentage of chronic kidney disease is 20 percent, or one in five.

Early detection is now possible by checking urine for albumin. By checking blood for kidney disease, it may not pick up early kidney injury, which albumin in urine will pick up. The National Kidney Foundation is now recommending a urine test for early detection.

One out of nine people with kidney disease are not diagnosed until late in the course of illness when there are few opportunities for prevention.

There is now strong scientific evidence that early detection, altering lifestyle factors and aggressive ways to lower blood pressure, not only slow down the progression to kidney failure, but can also significantly reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease that leads to premature death in the majority of these patients.

Here is a list of the 10 critical things healthy kidneys do for you:

1. Filter 200 liters, say 50 gallons, of blood a day, removing two liters of toxins, wastes and water.

2. Regulate the body’s water balance.

3. Regulate blood pressure by controlling fluid levels and making the hormone that causes blood vessels to constrict.

4. Support healthy bones and tissues by producing the active form of vitamin D.

5. Produce the hormone that stimulates bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells.

6. Keep blood minerals in balance.

7. Keep electrolytes in balance.

8. Regulate blood acid levels.

9. Remove drugs from the blood.

10. Retrieve essential nutrients so that the body can reabsorb them.

Most people with kidney diseases may not be cured, but careful follow-up and control of blood pressure, weight and other factors (If you smoke - stop!), will reduce continuing damage to one’s kidneys.

Many kidney patients die of heart disease or stroke, rather than kidney failure. Dialysis will clean the blood, which is not well cleaned by damaged kidneys.

The National Kidney Foundation urges all Americans to love their kidneys. So learn more about chronic kidney disease risk factors, prevention and treatment.