Kidney Health

These are mineral deposits. They form in your kidneys (the organs that filter your blood to produce urine). They can cause excruciating pain, but typically they don't cause physical harm to your body.

Kidney stones are a common problem, affecting about 12% of men and 5% of women. Stones are typically caused by an imbalance in the urinary system: too little water, too much oxalate, or too much calcium. In this video, you'll find out how the stones develop and what you can do to prevent them.

This treatment breaks apart kidney stones that are stuck in your kidneys or your ureters (the tubes that connect your kidneys to your bladder). Breaking a stone into smaller pieces can allow it to pass more easily.

Learn about the kidneys--where they're located, how they filter waste from the blood, and their other roles in keeping the body healthy.

The kidneys' main job is to clean the blood. They filter wastes and excess fluids from thousands of pints of blood each day. Learn about their other roles as well.

Assess your risk factors by answering these questions.

Kidney stones are made up of chemical crystals that separate out from urine. These crystals clump together to make stones.

If you've had a kidney stone, you may worry that you'll have another. Removing or passing your stone doesn't prevent future stones. But with your healthcare provider's help you can reduce your risk of forming new stones.

High blood pressure that isn't controlled can damage the walls of the blood vessels in your body, including those in the kidneys.

Simple kidney cysts are fluid-filled sacs that form in your kidneys. These cysts often don't affect how the kidneys function. Simple kidney cysts are very common. They rarely need treatment. Most people don't even know that they have them.

Hydronephrosis is when your kidneys fill with too much urine and swell up. It's cause by a problem in the urinary tract that stops urine from draining normally.

The role of the kidneys is to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood. Glomerulonephritis (GN) is an inflammation of the kidney that affects the filtering ability of the kidneys. This condition may be acute (lasting weeks to months) or chronic (lasting many years).

Hyperkalemia is too much potassium in the blood. This most often occurs in people who take certain medicines or people with kidney disease.

There are 4 types of kidney stones. Eighty percent are calcium stones. The other 3 types include uric acid stones, struvite stones (from a preceding infection), and rarely, cystine stones. Your kidney stone is still in the kidney. There is no way to predict how long it will be before it breaks free and causes any symptoms.

The sharp, cramping pain and nausea/vomiting that you had was due to the stone moving through the ureter (the narrow tube joining the kidney to the bladder). Once the stone reaches your bladder, the pain stops. Pain may begin again as the stone passes through the bladder and out through the urethra.

Some injuries can bruise your kidney. This may cause blood to appear in your urine. The blood may be in small amounts that you can't see; or, it might color your urine pink or light red.

Rhabdomyolysis (RM) is the breakdown of muscle tissue. This releases toxic substances into the blood stream. RM often has no symptoms.

When your kidneys don't work as they should, waste products build up in your blood. The early stage of this process is called renal insufficiency. If renal insufficiency gets worse, you can develop chronic renal failure.

An infection of 1 or both kidneys is called pyelonephritis. Read on to learn about causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

An abscess is a pocket of infection that has liquid called pus. An infection like this in the kidney is called a renal abscess.

Learn about treatment and home care after a kidney infection.

Kidney failure and its treatment will mean making some changes. But you can still live a full life with kidney failure. Read on to learn more.

Your healthcare provider will teach you how to care for your catheter and exit site. Good care is important to prevent infection. If an infection occurs, the catheter may have to be taken out. A new one will have to be put in at a later date.

Following a special diet when you have kidney disease can help you stay as healthy as possible. Your healthcare provider or dietitian should make a special diet plan just for you.

Flank pain is often caused by a problem with your kidneys. It might be a kidney infection or a kidney stone. Other causes of flank pain include spinal arthritis, a pinched nerve from a back injury, or a back muscle strain or spasm.

Hemodialysis is a treatment that takes over the essential functions of the kidney until you recover from the kidney disease, or obtain a kidney transplant. If you have end stage renal disease and are not eligible for a transplant, you will need to have hemodialysis for the rest of your life.

Nephrotic syndrome is a type of kidney disease where there is loss of protein into the urine. Learn how to care for your child after this diagnosis.

Proteinuria occurs when some of the normal protein in the bloodstream ends up in the urine. Protein in the urine will show up on a standard urine test. Protein in the urine can be a sign of serious disease or a harmless temporary condition.

A type of infection of one or both kidneys is called pyelonephritis. It is usually caused when bacteria or a virus gets into the kidneys. The bacteria or virus can enter the kidney(s) from the bladder or from blood traveling from other parts of the body.