Chronic Kidney Disease


Your kidneys remove waste products and help balance water, salt and other minerals in your blood. When your kidneys stop working there is an imbalance in these products within the blood. Chronic kidney disease is the long term breakdown of kidney function.

The progression of the disease is slow, and so the symptoms appear gradually over approximately a 3 month period. As your kidney function gets worse, you may:
Urinate less than normal.
Have swelling from fluid buildup
Feel very tired or sleepy.
Not feel hungry, or you may lose weight without trying.
Often feel sick to your stomach (nauseated) or vomit.
Have trouble sleeping.
Have headaches or trouble thinking clearly.

There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, and will eventually (after initial drug therapy is no longer sufficient) require long term dialysis. The only solution for the disease is a kidney transplant.