You probably know the feeling of being tired after a long day. Maybe your ankles swell on a flight, or your bathroom habits shift and you shrug it off. Most of us never think the kidneys could be the reason.
More than 35 million US adults, roughly 1 in 7, have chronic kidney disease, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The institute notes that most people in the early stages have no symptoms, and many have none until the disease is advanced.
That is why it is often called a silent disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says as many as 9 in 10 adults with chronic kidney disease do not know they have it. Even among people with severely reduced kidney function, about 4 in 10 are unaware.
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The 8 warning signs to know
The signs below are drawn from the NIDDK and the National Kidney Foundation. They tend to appear slowly, and any single one can have another cause. What matters is the pattern, especially if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney failure.
1. Persistent fatigue. Feeling worn out or struggling with sleep is one of the most common early signs. Waste that healthy kidneys would clear starts to build up in the blood.
2. Swollen ankles, feet, or hands. When the kidneys cannot keep fluid in balance, it pools in the lower body and sometimes in the hands.
3. Foamy urine. Lasting foam that does not rinse away can mean the kidneys are leaking protein into the urine.
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4. Peeing more or less often than usual. A change in how much or how often you urinate, including waking up at night to go, can point to kidney trouble.
5. Loss of appetite, nausea, or vomiting. As waste builds up, food can stop appealing and the stomach can turn.
6. Trouble concentrating. The NIDDK describes decreased mental sharpness and trouble focusing as later signs that waste products are affecting the brain.
7. Itchy or dry skin. Changes in mineral and bone balance can leave the skin dry, itchy, numb in places, or darker.
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8. Muscle cramps or shortness of breath. Low calcium and high phosphorus can trigger cramps, and fluid can collect in the lungs and cause breathlessness or chest pain.
Why these signs are so easy to miss
Each symptom on its own looks like something else. Tiredness gets blamed on work. Swollen ankles get blamed on a long flight. Foamy urine barely registers.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, symptoms alone cannot tell you if you have chronic kidney disease, and the only way to know for sure is to get tested.
That is a problem because damaged kidneys usually cannot be repaired. Catching the disease early is what lets treatment slow or stop its progress before dialysis or a transplant become the only options.
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The two simple tests to ask for
If you are at higher risk, or if a few signs above sound familiar, ask your doctor about two tests at your next visit. Both are inexpensive and routine.
The first is a blood test for the estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR. It measures how well the kidneys filter waste. An eGFR of 60 or more is in the normal range, and a result under 60 may signal kidney disease.
The second is a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio test, which checks for protein leaking into the urine. A result above 30 mg per gram may be a sign of damage.
Readers who recognize their own body in several of these signs can bring that list to their next physical and ask for both tests.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.