Alcohol & Kidney Function

The kidneys are a pair of vital organs used to filter waste and excess water from the body. They also release hormones that help regulate blood pressure and keep bones healthy and strong. Kidneys are important organs, but they are also delicate, and damage is irreversible. Much of what you eat or drink---including how much alcohol you consume---affects how your kidneys function.

Structure

• The kidneys are a pair of reddish, bean-shaped organs. They are located behind the abdomen, near the small of your back. They straddle your spleen, one on each side. The left kidney is slightly larger than the right and sits a little higher in the body.

  Each kidney is connected to its own renal artery that brings blood to it and its own renal vein to circulate the blood back to the heart. Each kidney also has its own ureter, a small tube that takes the urine produced in the kidney to the bladder.

Kidney Function

• Your kidneys are a part of the urinary system, along with the bladder and the urethra. Their main function is to remove waste that accumulates in your blood. Each of the kidneys has a renal artery that brings blood to the organ. The blood is then delivered to the nephrons, structures inside the kidneys that each contain a glomerulus, which acts as a filter. There, excess water, urea (the waste that occurs when the body metabolizes protein) and other wastes are forced from the blood into a cup-like sac called the Bowman's capsule.

  The nutrients and proteins that remain in the blood are sent through the renal veins back into circulation. The wastes mix to form urine, which is sent through the ureter to the bladder for storage until released from the body.

The Effects of Alcohol on Kidney Function

• Both casual and chronic alcohol use can cause irreversible damage to your kidneys, and people who drink often are more likely to develop high blood pressure. High blood pressure is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease, also known as chronic renal disease. The increase in blood pressure damages the blood vessels in the kidneys and causes them to stop filtering correctly. Chronic drinkers are also at risk for developing diabetes, a condition that causes excess glucose or sugar in your blood. Over time, as the kidneys work harder to filter out the excess glucose, the blood vessels in the filtering structures are destroyed, causing kidney disease or failure.

Treatment

• Kidney damage is often symptomless until it is too late. There is little treatment for kidneys that have reduced functionality. Normally, your physician will place you on dialysis, a process through which the kidneys are bypassed altogether. The blood is pumped into a machine outside the body where it is filtered and then pumped back into the body. However, dialysis is not a long-term solution and is only used until a kidney transplant can be performed.

Prevention

• The easiest way to prevent alcohol-related kidney disease is to limit the amount of alcohol you ingest, and to have regular medical checkups to catch diabetes, high blood pressure and other related conditions in the early stages.