What Are Signs of Kidney Failure?

Your kidneys are reddish, bean-shaped organs that provide many functions in your body's essential processes. Not only do they remove the impurities from your blood, but they also promote red blood cell production and help to regulate blood pressure. Without functioning kidneys, you cannot live. Kidney failure can be devastating, but if it's caught early enough you can take measures to save your life.

Hypertension

• High blood pressure, or hypertension, is not uncommon among Americans and it can signal any number of serious conditions. However, high blood pressure is not only a symptom of kidney failure. It can also lead to kidney failure in those who have perfectly healthy kidneys. This is because your kidneys depend on a normal blood pressure to filter blood and release hormones to maintain that blood pressure. Even if your kidneys are still functioning normally, chronic high blood pressure can damage the capillaries in your kidneys and lead to kidney failure.

Uremia

• Uremia is a very serious condition that can prevent vital organ systems like your muscles, heart and brain from working. Uremia is the buildup of urea, a waste product produced when protein breaks down. Normally, your kidneys remove the urea from your blood and use it to make urine. The urine is excreted. When you are having kidney failure, your kidneys stop filtering the urea out of your blood and it begins to build up, causing toxic results.

Edema

• Swollen ankles and fingers can a sign of edema, another symptom of kidney failure. When functioning normally, your kidneys will remove the excess water from your blood and excrete it as urine. If your kidneys fail, the water stays in the blood and has to find somewhere else to go. Often, it pools in your extremities, causing abnormal swelling or edema.

Anemia

• If your health care provider diagnoses you as anemic, that can be another sign of kidney failure. Anemia is a condition in which your body has low oxygen levels in the blood, causing unexplained weakness, low energy and general fatigue. Functioning kidneys release hormones that promote the production of red blood cells. Red blood cells carry the oxygen molecules through your bloodstream to the various parts of your body, where your cells can then use them for essential life processes. When your kidneys fail, you stop making as many red blood cells and cannot carry as much oxygen.

Metabolic Acidosis

• Maintaining a proper balance of acids and bases in your body is essential to life. If you body is too acidic, it cannot carry on the basic life functions. Your kidneys help maintain a normal pH balance by producing bicarbonate to counteract your blood acidity. When you kidneys do not work, your blood becomes too acidic and you develop metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis can lead to coma or death. If your health care provider diagnoses you with metabolic acidosis, he will also examine your kidneys because it can be sign of kidney failure.