What Are The Causes Leading To Kidney Failure?

You may experience a kidney failure when your kidneys are unable to filter waste from your blood in a sufficient amount. Several factors such as toxic exposure to pollutants, extreme dehydration, kidney trauma and other chronic diseases may lead to kidney failure. The body gets overloaded with toxins, which may trigger kidney failure.

General Causes-
People prone to kidney failure generally suffer from one or several of these following conditions:

1. Loss of blood flow to the kidney
2. Sudden loss of blood flow into the kidney may cause kidney failure. Several conditions and diseases such as heart attack, heart diseases, severe burns, allergic reactions, severe infections or scarring of the liver may cause loss of blood. Anti-inflammatory medicines, as well as medicines for blood pressure, are used for managing blood flow.
3. Diabetes and High Blood Pressure are one of the main cause of chronic kidney disease. Controlling blood sugar levels and maintain blood pressure in the normal range can prevent kidney failure.
4. Problems with the elimination of urine
5. When the body is unable to eliminate urine, toxins are built up, which cause overloading of the kidneys. The urine passageways may get blocked due to certain types of cancers, such as colon, bladder and cervical cancer.
6. Several other conditions such as kidney stones, enlarged prostate and blood clots developing within the urinary tract can lead to problems with urine elimination.

Other causes-
Many other conditions may lead to kidney failure. These include blood clots around the kidney, infections, toxic overload from heavy metals, alcohol and drugs. Others include:

1. An inflammatory disease of blood vessels
2. Lupus, an autoimmune disease, which causes inflammation of several organs of the body
3. Glomerulonephritis, a condition which involves inflammation of blood vessels of the kidney
4. Hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition where red blood cells are broken down after a bacterial infection
5. Multiple myelomas, a cancer of the plasma cells present in the bone marrow
6. Scleroderma, an autoimmune disease in which your skin is affected
7. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a disorder causing blood clots in small vessels
8. Chemotherapy drugs, which are used for cancer treatment
9. Certain dyes used for imaging tests
10. Several antibiotic medicines

Symptoms
There are several symptoms, which indicate kidney failure. In some cases, symptoms are not experienced. Generally, the common symptoms of kidney failure include the following:

1. Reduced amount of urine
2. Swelling of ankles, feet and legs due to fluid retention as the kidneys cannot eliminate sufficient waste
3. Shortness of breath
4. Fatigue and drowsiness
5. Nausea
6. Feeling confused
7. Pain and pressure in the chest
8. Seizures and coma

There are several types of kidney failure in general. They include acute prerenal kidney failure, acute intrinsic kidney failure, chronic prerenal kidney failure, chronic intrinsic kidney failure and chronic post-renal kidney failure. It is recommended that you consult a doctor upon experiencing any of the above-mentioned symptoms.