Kidney failure, or renal failure, is a condition where an underlying disease or disorder causes the kidneys to either decrease dramatically in their functionability or to halt their function altogether.  Given the importance of the kidneys to filtering fluid, waste, and toxins out of the bloodstream, kidney failure can lead to severe, life threatening conditions and complications. 

Kidney Failure Symptoms

Symptoms of kidney failure are sometimes deceptively benign and innocuous.  Often kidney failure symptoms do not manifest in very severe fashion until kidney dysfunction has set in significantly.  However, given the potential effect the condition may have, it is important to recongize renal failure symptoms whenever they first manifest in order to seek treatment as early as possible. 

Acute Renal Failure

Acute renal failure, sometimes called acute kidney failure, occurs when a disease, infection, or injury causes the kidneys to suddenly decrease in function, or even stop altogether.  Suddenly diminished renal function can lead to an escalation and hastening of symptoms, to a degree to which often requires immediate medical attention or else risk permanent damage, or even death. 

Chronic Renal Failure

Chronic renal failure, also known as chronic kidney failure and in very advanced stages as end stage renal failure, is a condition where the kidneys decrease in their function over an extended period of time of months, or sometimes, years.  Often symptoms or chronic renal failure do not manifest immediately, and it may take years, or even a kidney screening to determine the presence of the disease. 

What is Renal Failure?

What is renal failure? Renal failure in simplest terms, is when a medical condition caused the kidneys to either decrease in function or stop functioning altogether, preventing excess fluids, toxins, and waste products, like creatinine, from being removed from the blood.  Creatinine levels in the blood are themselves often used a diagnostic substance to determine if renal failure has occured. 

Signs of Kidney Failure

There are many signs of kidney failure, but many of them are often invisible until it is often too late to prevent full renal failure.  Most of the advanced signs of the condition occur when renal functioning has decreased to such a degree that one's health, and even life, has been critically compromised.

Renal Failure Diet

Renal failure diets are often used as a preventative measure for those who either are enduring chronic kidney failure, are at risk for it, or have already endured it.  Often constructed based on a patient's case history, renal failure diets alleviate the pressure on the kidneys by decreasing the potential waste materials, such as creatinine, in the blood stream, which would normally be removed by a healthy, functioning kidney.

Glomerular Filtration Rate

The glomerular filtration rate is the measurement of speed by which blood is filtered effectively through the kidneys.  When the glomerular filtration rate, which calculated based on patient history and creatinine levels in the blood, is extremely low, it can indicate the presence of kidney disease and even the potential for kidney failure.

Hydronephrosis of the Kidney

Hydronephrosis is a condition where a blockage prevents urine from flowing from the kidneys and out through the urinary tract.  Left untreated, hydronephrosis of the kidneys can cause severe damage to the kidneys caused by extension of the tissue due to fluid retention.  In its most severe cases, where it effects both kidneys at once, it can be a cause of acute or chronic kidney failure.