SA Kidney Disease Support

18/09/2024

Hi. If you are here you are on the Page but we want you to rather join the group. Search; SA Kidney Disease Support Group and make sure to click on Group not Page. There you can post.

13/09/2024

13/09/2024

Our hearts function as a pump for pumping blood through our lungs to capture oxygen for the body, and to eliminate carbon dioxide. Our muscles, joints and bones enable us to stand and move, and our bowels and liver digest and absorb nutrients.

By contrast, our kidneys are filters which perform the varied functions of all our organs other than the brain. Kidneys manufacture essential chemicals, they break down (metabolize) unnecessary or dangerous chemicals, and they retain necessary substances and eliminate toxic waste.

In everyday life, our kidneys:

Make 150 litres of urine a day, but keep back (reabsorb) 149 litres of useful substances, like protein, and excrete 2 litres of waste. They can be likened to a huge swimming pool filter which never needs backwashing, and will rarely need an overhaul if you look after your health!

Functions of the kidneys:

Excrete drugs, medicines and poisons.
Provide the nutrients to take care of our bones and joints, allowing for a solid and healthy skeleton.
Control the amount of acidity and alkalinity (pH) in the body.
Produce chemicals which control our blood pressure, and produce other chemicals which produce our red blood cells – which carry oxygen to our whole body.
Destroy chemicals and hormones which the body doesn’t need any more – like insulin.

When the kidneys do not function optimally the following may occur:

Kidney failure will eventually poison the body and mind.
Swelling of the body
Shortness of breath
Weakness
Poor appetite
Insomnia (sleeplessness)
Body aches and pains
Impairment of thought processes
Headaches and high blood pressure

13/09/2024

This page is for anyone diagnosed with Kidney Disease, where we can come together and share our experiences, struggles and victories. Let's fight the fight together