General information
In acute and chronic kidney failure, the clinical picture differs significantly depending on the cause and thus the course of the kidney failure, especially at the beginning of the disease. Acute kidney failure leads to the sudden appearance of unspecific symptoms. Patients tire more quickly than before, and concentration difficulties and nausea can occur.
Especially at the beginning, patients notice water retention (edema) in the legs. With persistent kidney failure, the water can also deposit in other organs, such as the lungs, and lead to respiratory distress. Since the kidneys are no longer able to control the body’s water balance and possibly excrete toxic substances, life-threatening symptoms can occur.
Especially too much potassium (hyperkalemia) in the body can lead to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. But also seizures, confusion or brain edema can determine the clinical picture and lead to coma. In addition, urinary excretion decreases rapidly (oliguria= < 500ml in 24 hours).
If the kidney failure is even more advanced, urine excretion is completely absent (anuria). Chronic kidney failure proceeds much more slowly at the beginning and depends on the causative underlying disease. Especially at the beginning, chronic kidney failure can be completely asymptomatic.
Some patients notice uncharacteristic symptoms such as poor performance and fatigue. Another early symptom is frequent urination, whereby the urine is bright and unfocused. If the kidney failure progresses further, the symptoms are partly similar to acute kidney failure.
The amount of urine decreases significantly. While a healthy kidney patient excretes about 1.5 liters of urine daily, the amount of urine drops below 500ml per day due to kidney failure. The patients deposit fluid mainly in the legs and eyelids (edema) and high blood pressure develops.
The reason for this is the large amount of fluid in the body, which can no longer be excreted via the kidneys. In addition, the kidney stops producing the blood-forming hormone erythropoietin in addition to its filter function. This leads to anemia (renal anemia) caused by the kidney.
In addition, many patients suffer from Many patients report itching all over the body, triggered by the accumulation of urinary substances in the tissue. In addition, the reduced filtering function of the kidney leads to foaming and red urine. This is caused by a too high protein content in the urine, as well as blood admixtures from the urinary tract as a sign of the damaged kidney tissue or by degradation products of the red blood pigment. Pain in the kidney area does not usually occur in the case of chronic kidney failure; these are rather signs of intervertebral disc or spinal problems, kidney stones or inflammation of the renal pelvis.
