Symptoms of kidney disease
Kidney disease which was once more common in people aged 65 and above is currently attacking young people. Most individuals are unaware that kidney disease is a silent killer as it show no symptoms until the condition becomes grave. It is very important to detect the symptoms in its initial stages to prevent the situation from becoming critical. Chronic and polycystic kidney disease is often undiagnosed due to unclear signs and symptoms allowing the condition to aggravate further.
Dr Avinash Ignatius, senior consultant nephrologist DaVita, Pune Region, says ‘Frequent urination at night is one of the most common and early symptom of chronic kidney disease and it should not be ignored even though it is harmless. While other symptoms of the disease usually develop at later stage of the disease after the kidney has lost approximately 80% of its function.’
There are some key symptoms of acute and chronic kidney disease that are listed below. One should immediately consult their doctor in case they experience any of these symptoms to avoid disease severity.
Symptoms of Acute Kidney Failure (AKF)
The symptoms of acute kidney disease are same as observed in many other clinical conditions. These clinical signs may be the only issue in the early stage and include –
- Headaches
- Nausea and Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Itching and dry skin
- Swelling in the feet
- Generalized ill feeling
Symptoms observed in later stage are –
- Bloody stools and prolonged bleeding
- Mood swings (in case of elder people)
- Pain in ribs and hips
- Hand tremors and seizures
- Elevated blood pressure
- Hiccups and decreased sensation
Symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
Acute kidney disease symptoms progress soon into the chronic kidney disease symptoms and are generally not observed till the kidney function is affected to a greater extent.
Urinary changes – Kidneys are responsible for formation of urine and thus, any changes in the color, frequency and appearance of urine should not be ignored. Other changes include –
- Difficulty in urinating
- Appearance of blood in urine
- Frequently urinating at night times
- Urinating in lesser or greater amounts
Swelling – When kidneys are affected to a greater extent, they are unable to remove extra wastes and fluids from the body. This can cause your face, hands, feet and ankles to swell.
Nausea – When the wastes in the body build up in the blood, it can cause vomiting.
Back or leg pain – Kidney cysts (fluid-packed sacs) from polycystic kidney disease and other kidney problems cause pain in your back, side and legs.
Itching/rash – With kidneys being unable to clear wastes from body, they build up in the blood and cause severe itching or skin rashes.
Fatigue and weakness – When your kidneys get damaged, blood levels of erythropoietin (hormone produced by kidneys that help RBCs carry blood) decrease resulting in anemia. There is low delivery of oxygen to the body cells causing fatigue and weakness.
Metallic taste – The blood levels of urea are increased in kidney disease. This causes the breakdown of urea into ammonia resulting in urine-like breath and also an unpleasant metallic taste in the mouth.
Cold feeling – With low oxygen delivery due to kidney disease and anemia, you may experience cold even when warm. Infection to kidney (pyelonephritis) is also found to cause fever with chills.
Dizziness – With kidney failure relating to anemia, there is an inadequate supply of oxygen to both the brain and the body. This is found to cause issues with concentration, memory-related problems and dizziness.
Shortness of breath – Sometimes, excess fluid can fill up your lungs. Anemia, a common side-effect of kidney failure, is responsible for low supply of oxygen to the body, resulting in shortness of breath.
Source: The Health Site
