The Difference Between Kidney Failure and Kidney Disease

Kidney failure
Kidney failure occurs when the kidneys partly or completely lose their ability to carry out normal functions. This is dangerous because water, waste, and toxic substances build up that normally are removed from the body by the kidneys. It also causes other problems such as anemia, high blood pressure, acidosis (excessive acidity of body fluids), disorders of cholesterol and fatty acids, and bone disease in the body by impairing hormone production by the kidneys.

Chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease is when one suffers from gradual and usually permanent loss of kidney function over time. This happens gradually over time, usually months to years. Chronic kidney disease is divided into five stages of increasing severity. Stage 5 chronic kidney failure is also referred to as end-stage renal disease, wherein there is total or near-total loss of kidney function and patients need dialysis or transplantation to stay alive. The term "renal" refers to the kidney, so another name for kidney failure is "renal failure." Mild kidney disease is often called renal insufficiency.

Painful Kidney Stones On The Rise In Children

Based on news in Chicago, doctors are puzzling over what seems to be an increase in the number of children with kidney stones, a condition some blame on kids' love of cheeseburgers, fries and other salty foods. Kidney stones are usually an adult malady, one that is notorious for causing excruciating pain and pain worse than childbirth. But while the number of affected children isn't huge, kids with kidney stones have been turning up in rising numbers at hospitals around the country.

At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the number of children treated for kidney stones since 2005 has climbed from about 10 a year to five patients a week now, said Dr. Pasquale Casale. Johns Hopkins Children Center in Baltimore, a referral center for children with stones, used to treat one or two youngsters a year 15 or so years ago. Now it gets calls about new cases every week, said kidney specialist Dr. Alicia Neu.

In a 2007 study in the Journal of Urology, doctors at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center reported a nearly fivefold increase in children brought in with kidney stones between 1994 and 2005. In 2005, 61 youngsters were treated there for stones. Dr. David Hatch at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., near Chicago, also has seen an increase. His youngest patient was a cranky 8-month-old girl whose mother found a pea-size kidney stone in her diaper.

Kids' stones have been the talk of recent pediatric kidney specialists' conferences, said Dr. Uri Alon, director of the bone and mineral disorders clinic at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. So far, the only evidence is anecdotal. But Alon is involved in research trying to determine if the increase is real and not just the result of greater awareness and better ways of detecting stones. Alon also is studying whether improved nutrition can prevent kids' kidney stones.

Eating too much salt can result in excess calcium in the urine. In children, most stones are calcium-based, and Alon said their eating habits, plus drinking too little water, puts them at risk. Plenty of water is generally recommended to help prevent kidney stones.

Painful and Intense When Kidney Stone Attack

Matty Billemeyer is just 8 years old but already has had four bouts with stones, the first in 2007, the last a year ago in April. He was first stricken in his first-grade class; the school nurse, his parents and even the emergency room doctors all thought it was his appendix. "It felt really painful and intense," the Doylestown, Pa., boy recalled. "I was really scared because it was hurting a lot."

Darryl Billemeyer said it was frightening seeing his son writhing and screaming in pain. The boy was transferred from a local hospital to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where ultrasound tests showed kidney stones. "We really didn't know what to make of it," Billemeyer said. "I definitely thought they were more of an adult thing."

The first time, Matty needed surgery; the other times the stones passed during urination. Now he takes diuretic pills to increase urination, brings a water bottle to school everyday, and has given up favorite foods, including sausages, pickles and packaged ramen noodles — all high in salt.

His parents are both busy teachers, and with four other sons, family meals used to include quick processed foods like canned spaghetti or chicken nuggets. Until Matty's diagnosis, salt "wasn't something we really thought about," Billemeyer said. The main problem associated with kidney stones is extreme pain. It is caused by stones blocking urine flow, which, if untreated, could lead to kidney damage.

Chronic Kidney Disease Overview

Normal Kidneys and Their Function

The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that lie on either side of the spine in the lower middle of the back. Each kidney weighs about ¼ pound and contains approximately one million filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron is made of a glomerulus and a tubule. The glomerulus is a miniature filtering or sieving device while the tubule is a tiny tube like structure attached to the glomerulus. The kidneys are connected to the urinary bladder by tubes called ureters. Urine is stored in the urinary bladder until the bladder is emptied by urinating. The bladder is connected to the outside of the body by another tube like structure called the urethra.

The main function of the kidneys is to remove waste products and excess water from the blood. The kidneys process about 200 liters of blood every day and produce about two liters of urine. The waste products are generated from normal metabolic processes including the breakdown of active tissues, ingested foods, and other substances. The kidneys allow consumption of a variety of foods, drugs, vitamins and supplements, additives, and excess fluids without worry that toxic by-products will build up to harmful levels. The kidney also plays a major role in regulating levels of various minerals such as calcium, sodium, and potassium in the blood.

The kidneys also produce certain hormones that have important functions in the body, including the following:

·    Activate form of vitamin D (calcitriol or 1,25 dihydroxy-vitamin D), which regulates absorption of calcium and phosphorus from foods, promoting formation of strong bone.
·    Erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells.
·    Renin, which regulates blood volume and blood pressure.