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Acute kidney injury, Renal failure – Acute, ARF, Kidney injury – Acute,Renal failure – Chronic, Kidney failure – Chronic, Chronic renal insufficiency, Chronic kidney disease, CRF
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By MediAngels Medical Team
INDIA
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| | Introduction
The kidneys are a pair of organs which are essential in that they maintain the blood and keep it chemically stable. ‘Renal’ refers to kidney. The vitally functioning cells in the kidneys are known as the nephrons. There are about one million nephrons in each of the kidneys which work together to keep the body in equilibrium. With their destruction, there is increase in toxic materials in the blood as well as the amount of fluid in the body with devastating consequences to the body. There may be a number of conditions associated with loss of kidney function including hypertension or high blood pressure, loss of bone minerals, imbalance in the electrolytes, reduction in the number of red blood cells in the blood also known as anemia, etc. If not diagnosed and treated promptly, it could be very incapacitating to the individual with loss of quality of life and can even be fatal.
Acute renal failure (ARF) or acute kidney injury (AKI) is the sudden and rapid loss of kidney function with resultant rise in blood levels of toxins which would normally be excreted by the kidneys.
Epidemiology:
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In the United States, it is estimated that almost 1% of all patients at the time of admission have ARF.
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In about 1% of surgical cases, ARF develops postoperatively.
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Both males and females are equally affected by ARF.
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In the western world it is estimated to be present in about 11% of all adult population. Advancing age and presence of diabetes and hypertension are possible predictors of CRF.
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