Kidney Disease—Symptoms?

Kidney Disease—Symptoms?

Dear Doctor,

1. What are the symptoms of kidney disorder?

2. Can a man with one testis impregnate a woman?

Finally I wish to acknowledge your good work in the SUN NEWSPAPER

Gary Lee, Potiskum

Dear Gary,

When a person has disease of the kidney the manifestations are many but let’s look at maybe a dozen or half dozen signs and symptoms. But first o underscore the importance of your question

a) Kidney disease has been on an alarming increase in Nigeria in recent times that doctors and nephrologists have cried out at the sheer number of people it is affecting. b)Kidney diseases usually end in death --Chronic Renal (kidney) failure is irreversible--once a person has it, they really cannot be helped anymore--they will usually die --unless of course, new kidneys are obtained by transplantation surgery and the person gets a new lease of life. c)Kidney transplants can be very risky--the transplant may fail; the costs are prohibitive and the surgery and/or procurement of donor organs not easy. So it is really just the best for one to make sure they are not affected by this problem.

First is that there may be no manifestation--especially when the disease is still very early .

But there is usually some pain in the flanks or back--this is because the kidneys are to be found at that location--that is the flanks-- there will be edema--swelling of first, the legs but later all parts of the body from water retention and electrolyte imbalance. You see the kidney's job is to purify the blood from poisons in the system--it filters these poisons from the blood and then excretes them as urine. So the kidneys make urine.

Now when the kidney is malfunctioning thro' disease, of course the sufferer cannot make the amount of urine he used to make before or any at all. We call this oliguria or anuria. All that water that should have gone off with the urine now accumulates in the body causing edema.

The patient will also be tired, from anemia or lack of enough blood--the kidney produces Erythropoietin which triggers the manufacture of Red Blood Cells. Kidney disease therefore will cause lack of enough blood--anaemia.

The kidneys produce a substance called angoiotensin that helps to control blood pressure making it normal. A malfunctioning kidney therefore causes hypertension--nothing to control hypertension anymore.

You will agree that a weak, tired and exhausted, sick person will not likely be interested in sex. In kidney disease, there is loss of libido and impotence; there will be all sorts of menstrual problems and irregularities --maybe even amenorrhea--total loss of menses

Urea is the main poison that the kidney filters from the blood. High levels of this poison, urea, causes hiccups, nausea, vomiting and itching.

These are some of what you can expect when someone has kidney disease.

As for your second question all organs in the body that are double-- left and right-- can continue working at over 75% efficacy without the counterpart organ. Can a one -eyed man see? Of course he can

So one testes is enough the functioning one works harder, as it were, to compensate for the deficiency

I do hope you understand and are satisfied.

And as for your last statement, thank you; and let's all thank God for the Sun

Cheers