Kidney failure What therapy can help?

Healthy lifestyle prevents
Our kidneys perform important functions in the body: they regulate the chemical balance, purify the blood, regulate the blood pressure and are responsible for the drainage of the body. Every day there are about 100 liters that flow through the kidneys. Here, the blood is filtered and harmful substances excreted as urine via urinary drainage organs. Failure of the filter organs can be life-threatening.

If blockages block the urinary structures, water and toxins accumulate in the body. The urine can not drain anymore. Those who suffer severe pain in the kidneys, who can not leave any water or who detects blood in the urine, should see a doctor immediately.

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For example, benign prostate enlargement or prostate cancer are responsible for strictures of the urethra. "The prostate is under the bladder," explains Dr. Reinhold Schaefer, urologist and medical director of the medical network Uro-GmbH North Rhine. "If it is enlarged, it can push so much on the urethra that the urine builds up." Other causes include cancers of the kidneys, urinary stones and disease, in which the connective tissue layer of the ureters thickened. If the person concerned can only leave little or no urine and pain comes, a doctor must be consulted immediately. Sometimes fatigue, fatigue or loss of appetite occur.

In the case of the urologist, urine drainage is first ensured by a catheter. This relieves the kidneys so that they can regenerate again. "In acute renal failure usually no long-term consequences remain and the kidneys continue to work normally" In the chronic form, however, often remain irreversible damage. Here treacherous first symptoms are often not undetected.

People who suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or serious infectious diseases or who take chronic painkillers should therefore regularly take urological checks.

After the first treatment, it is necessary to investigate causes. Kidney and ureteral stones must be treated and medications properly adjusted. Prostate cancer or tumors of the bladder need surgery and treatment. Benign prostate enlargements involve drug or surgical therapies. As with other conditions, those affected can also prevent kidney failure: Balanced diet, exercise, no cigarettes, and only moderate drinking help to stay healthy. Drinking enough - at least one and a half liters of water a day - is also good for the kidneys. (Pm)