How To Prevent Kidney Failure

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The kidneys remove waste product and toxins from the body. When they fail, these waste products of metabolism accumulate and cause serious damage to the body. Prevention is important in this case because before one has any symptoms of kidneys failing in their functions, possibly more than 50% of the kidney cells have stopped working.

Kidney failure can be prevented by the following measures.

1. Eat healthy foods – These are foods that are beneficial to the entire body such as:

  1. Natural foods such as grains (corn, rice wheat, oats beans etc), tubers such as yam, cocoyam etc.
  2. Cut down on refined food such as meat pie, bread, biscuits etc.
  3. Eat natural fruits such as orange, banana, water melon etc rather than sugary drinks.
  4. Cut down on daily sugar intake.
  5. Cut down on salt intake. Cooking with a mixture of spices can help improve food taste while cutting down the salt content.
  6. Reduce intake of fried foods. Meat, fish chicken can be baked or boiled rather than fried.
  7. Eat lots of vegetables.
  8. Reduce intake of milk with high fat content.
  9. Pay attention to the contents of foods written on their labels.

2. Maintain healthy weight – Aim at weight reduction if you are overweight or obese. This can be done by cutting down food intake and engaging in regular exercise.

3. Engage in regular physical activities / exercise – Regular physical activities (at least 30 minutes a day) improve body functions, reduce the risk of obesity and heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) diseases. 

4. Avoid smoking – Smoking has been shown to have adverse effects on several organs of the body, the kidneys inclusive. It is a risk factor for high blood pressure which is a risk factor for kidney diseases. Cessation of smoking is important for those already smoking. They can get help from a psychologist.

5. Reduce alcohol intake – Excess alcohol intake is also a risk factor for high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for kidney diseases. 

6. Ensure adequate sleep – With an average of 8 hour sleep a day, the body is able to reset. 

7. Limit stress-inducing activities – Too much stress is a risk factor for high blood pressure which has significant impact on the kidneys.

8. Treat underline diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and heart disease – Ensure regular medical checkup and take medications as recommended. These diseases have direct impact on the kidneys. It is good to meet target blood sugar and blood pressure control. Also, ensure that the medications taken to manage these health conditions do not interfere with kidney functions. Discuss this with your healthcare provider. 

9. Regular checkup of kidney function – This is very important as kidneys are very resilient. They don’t show sign of disease until significant part of them have been damaged. Regular checkup can help catch the disease at the early stage; cause(s) identified and treated. This is very important for those with family history of kidney disease.

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