Diagnosis and Procedures Ward 4A Flashcards
What do the kidneys do?
Our kidneys help to control our blood pressure, as well as removing waste product from the blood and excreting that through our urine
What is kidney failure?
It is when your kidneys cannot function as well and have troubles filtering and removing waste product or excess fluid from the blood.
How may Diabetes cause kidney failure?
poorly controlled diabetes may result in blood glucose levels to rise and damage the blood vessels and nephrons in the kidneys, meaning that the kidneys cannot filter out waste or excess fluid from the blood as well as they did before, this can cause hypovolemia and high blood pressure.
What is the first sign of kidney failure from diabetes?
A protein called albumin may be present in the urine. Healthy kidneys will not allow for albumin to pass through into our urine.
How does high blood pressure play a role in developing kidney failure?
When extra fluid builds up in our blood (Hypovolemia), It causes our heart to work harder to compensate for the lack of blood being circulated around the body, which then raises our blood pressure. High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels in our kidneys over time, causing poor kidney function and filtering.
How may medications damage our kidney function and cause renal failure?
Medications affect our kidneys in a range of different ways, but in some cases, medications can cause crystals formation that blocks your urine flow. Or have substances that damage kidney cells when the kidneys try to filter them out.
What other things can cause kidney failure?
Infections, Lupus, Lead poisoning, Vasculitis, Renal artery stenosis.
What is a kidney stone?
Our urine contains dissolved minerals and salts, when our urine has high levels of minerals and salts, it can form stones. Kidney stones can grow in size and can be excreted through our urine, but if they get lodged in the ureter, it can block urine flow from the kidney and cause pain.
What are kidneys?
Kidneys are fist sized organs that handle the bodies fluid and chemical levels. They are located on each side of our spine, behind our liver, stomach, pancreas and intestines. our kidneys control the levels of sodium, potassium and calcium in the blood.
how does urine pass through our body?
The urinary tract makes, transports and stores urine in the body. The kidneys make urine from water and our bodies waste. the urine will then travel down from the urea into the bladder, where it is stored, urine will then leave the body through our urethra.
What kind of stones are there?
Calcium stones (80% of stones), Uric Acid stones (5-10%) and Struvite/infection stones (10%)
What symptoms will someone experiencing a kidney/bladder stone have?
I. cramping or pain in their back or side, may make its way down to the lower abdomen and come in waves (the bodies way of trying to remove the stone).
II. Intense feeling to urinate
III. Burning sensation when urinating
IV. Highly concentrated urine (Dark or red due to blood)
IVV. Nausea and Vomiting
How does Dehydration cause kidney/bladder stones?
Low urine volume (Dehydration). When urine is more concentrated due to lack of volume, it is harder to keep salts dissolved.
How may diet cause kidney/bladder stones?
diets that are high in sodium/calcium and proteins. Too much salt is a risk factor for calcium stones. High salt levels reduce the chance for calcium to reabsorb into the urine, therefore reducing salt in the diet lowers urine calcium, making it less likely for calcium stones to form.
Why may bowel conditions affect the likelihood of kidney/bladder stone formation?
Bowel conditions that cause diarrhea such as Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis, or surgeries (such as gastric bypass surgery), Diarrhea may result in loss of large amounts of fluid from the body, lowering urine volume which raises the risk of forming calcium oxalate kidney stones.
