Kidney Disease & How To Prevent It

Kidney Disease & How To Prevent It

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The key to prevention of kidney disease is early detection and aggressive intervention while there is still time to slow down the progression to kidney failure.

Medical care with early intervention can change the course of chronic kidney disease and help prevent the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. Diabetes and high blood pressure account for two thirds of all cases of chronic kidney disease. By aggressively managing diabetes and high blood pressure with diet, exercise and medications you will be able to prevent kidney failure and help keep as much kidney function as possible.

Since diabetes and high blood pressure put you at risk of kidney disease, know where you stand with the risks:

• Do you have diabetes or high blood pressure?
• If so are they under control?

See if you can find out if diabetes, hypertension, or kidney disease runs in your family. Certain ethnic group such as African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are at higher risk of chronic kidney disease are as senior citizens. Also get tested regularly as well.

At your next checkup within the next year, ask for these 3 things which are:

• Ask for a blood pressure reading to see if your blood pressure is elevated.
• Ask for a fasting blood glucose test, to see if you have too much glucose in your blood.
• Ask for a creatinine test. This blood test measures the amount of waste from muscle activity. When the kidneys are not working properly, the creatinine rises.

If any of these tests are abnormal, your health care provider will need to do other tests to more clearly define the problem.

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