Take Good Care of Your Kidneys to Avoid Renal Failure - Essay Example

"Take Good Care of Your Kidneys to Avoid Renal Failure" is an incredible example of a paper on the endocrine system.
The kidney is one of the most important organs in the human body because it performs a very critical function. This is the filtering and cleansing the body of toxins when people eat. A  normal person has two kidneys, located at the small of the back near the vertebral column. Its two general functions or purposes are to separate and eliminate all the harmful substances in the foods we eat such as urea, mineral salts, toxins (poisons) and other waste products that are the result of normal body functioning during digestion and metabolism (chemical reactions). Its other second crucial function is to conserve and absorb water, essential vitamins, minerals and electrolytes (substances with an extra electron or ion to make them electrically-charged) that are needed also for bodily functioning. The kidneys are bean-shaped organs that perform these important functions such as maintaining water volume, the right balance of nutrients and the right acid-base balance of the blood, in addition to producing red blood cells and maintain the right levels of a person's blood pressure and blood sugar in his system.

Discussion

The kidneys are like any other human organs and are subject to normal wear and tear as people go through life and the ageing process. However, a good number of ailments or diseases can cause the kidneys to malfunction. This is termed in medical language as renal failure. The most common cause of renal failure is diabetes but other diseases like hypertension, crystals (kidney stones) and renal nephritis (kidney inflammation) impair kidney function such that it cannot properly filter and purify the blood and urine which thereby causes body poisoning.

People respond differently to renal failure. In the case of one kidney failing, people can still survive and go through normal life activities with only one good kidney remaining. The key is to take care of the kidneys while these are still healthy, such as drinking plenty of water, avoid salty or fatty foods and refrain from drinking too much alcohol (binge or chronic alcoholism). One of the first signs of renal failure is pain (in waves) felt in the lower abdomen, then more frequent urination and followed later on by fatigue, lethargy and malaise, or a general feeling of discomfort and uneasiness (Chiras 2011). These symptoms occur because expected normal metabolism is impaired, with one of the most acute effects being anaemia due to the failure to produce enough blood cells which in turn can cause heart failure (Nixon et al. 2010). 

A metabolic adaptation can happen during chronic renal failure (gradual loss of kidney function) through a reduced excretion of acid and at the same time in increased ammonia production in order to still maintain the right acid-base balance (Schrier 2010) while a case of acute (sudden onset) renal failure will result into metabolic acidosis (excess kidney acid). On the other hand, the physiological implications of renal failure include hemodynamic (blood movements) adaptation such as by increasing the blood flow and filtration rates of the kidneys (Leppert & Peipert 2003). However, this will damage the kidneys over the long term as these will cause “overwork” of the kidneys by compensating for the reduced renal functioning.

Conclusion

 People, especially those still healthy, take their kidneys for granted. They will realize how important the kidneys are when these will start to malfunction and they feel the effects of reduced kidney functioning resulting in a variety of ailments and conditions, like increased water and salt retention in the body while losing essential electrolytes. Although a kidney can still function even when 80% - 90% of it is destroyed (WHO 2007), one does not have to wait when only dialysis or a kidney transplant becomes necessary before taking care of kidneys.