Kidney Disease Overview

What Do My Kidneys Do?

Your kidneys are bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They are located near the middle of your back, just below the rib cage.

Your kidneys filter blood. The filtering occurs in tiny units inside your kidneys called nephrons. One kidney has about a million nephrons. They remove waste products and extra water, which become urine. The urine flows through tubes called ureters to your bladder, which stores the urine until you go to the bathroom.

The wastes in your blood come from the normal breakdown of active tissues and from food you eat. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste is sent to the blood. If your kidneys did not remove these wastes, the wastes would build up in the blood and damage your body.

What Is Kidney Disease?

Kidney disease results from damage to the nephrons, the tiny structures inside your kidneys that filter blood.

Usually the damage occurs very gradually over years. It happens in both kidneys. There aren’t any obvious symptoms, so you don’t know it’s happening.

Common causes of kidney disease

• Diabetes: In diabetes, the body doesn’t use glucose (sugar) very well. The glucose stays in your blood and acts like a poison. If you have diabetes, you can prevent kidney disease by controlling your blood sugar levels.
• High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in your kidneys. When this happens your kidneys cannot filter wastes from your blood very well. If you have high blood pressure (hypertension) be sure to take any medicines your doctor prescribes.
• Heredity: Some kidney diseases result from hereditary factors, and can run in families. If your family has a history of any kind of kidney problems, you may be at risk for kidney disease and should talk to your doctor.