Chronic kidney disease at a glance

The kidneys play an important role in your health. Human beings are born with 2 kidneys, one on each side of the backbone just below the rib cage. Shaped like kidney beans, each kidney is about the size of a small fist and weighs about 1/4 pound or 114 grams.

Normal healthy kidneys…

• Clean your blood and remove extra fluid to form urine
• Keep minerals (sodium, calcium, potassium, and phosphorous) in balance
• Help to control blood pressure
• Help to make red blood cells
• Activate vitamin D to keep bones healthy

When your kidneys aren't working properly, you may be developing kidney failure. Most kidney diseases affect the nephrons, which are the tiny filters inside the kidneys that clean the blood. When this happens, harmful wastes and fluids can build up in your body.

A number of diseases or conditions can cause kidney failure, including diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus, polycystic kidney disease, glomerulonephritis, injury or trauma.

Symptoms you can feel when your kidneys aren't working properly

Symptoms of kidney failure can vary from person to person. Kidney disease is sometimes called a "silent" disease because some people may not feel sick or may not notice their symptoms until their kidneys are no longer removing waste and fluids (urine).

As the disease gets worse and kidney function slows down, most people experience symptoms of uremia. Uremia means too much urea in the blood.

You may also experience loss of appetite, a bad taste in your mouth, vomiting, nausea, and weight loss. Difficulty sleeping, itching, muscle cramps, and darkening of the skin can also occur.

Symptoms of uremia include:

• Feeling tired and/or weak
• Swelling of the hands and feet
• Shortness of breath