Kidney Failure | Acute Renal Failure Causes and its Effects

Acute Renal Failure

Kidneys play a very important role in human physiology.

They are the organs that screen urea and other wastes from the blood and excrete them together with water as urine. When the kidneys fail to fully perform this function, a condition called kidney or renal failure results. The term “renal” comes from “renes” which is the Latin term for kidneys.

Renal failure is typically determined by a rise in the level of creatinine in the blood.

This is due to the rapid inability of the kidneys to perform its functions resulting in the accumulation of uremic toxins in the blood and failure to excrete this load of toxins as urine. Uremic toxins, like creatinine, are waste products of the body’s metabolism.

There are two known kinds of renal failure: chronic renal failure and acute renal failure.

The difference between these two types of renal failure can be determined in the trend of the level of creatinine in the blood. Other factors that differentiate acute and chronic renal failure are the presence of anemia and the size of the kidney on ultrasound. Unlike acute kidney failure, the chronic type is longstanding renal failure that usually leads to anemia and small kidney size.

Acute renal failure (ARF) is a condition where the kidneys rapidly and progressively losses its ability to function well.

This condition is generally characterized by oliguria or decrease of urine production. Other indicators include disturbances in the levels of body water and fluids and electrolyte derangement. It is important to identify the underlying cause in order to prevent or defer the progress of the deterioration of the kidneys.

Oftentimes dialysis may be necessary in order to sustain the body system while treating the causes of the renal failure. Since a person only needs one functioning kidney to maintain normal blood filtering, the occurrence of ARF implies that both kidneys are failing.

Persons with ARF are grouped into two main types: oliguric and nonoliguric. This group is based on the amount of urine that the person excretes within a 24 hour period.

ARF patients who excrete less than 500 mL a day are called oligoric while those who excrete more than 500 mL per day are referred to as nonoliguric.

Among oligoric ARF patients, there is a decrease in the level or even cessation of urine production usually relative to the severity or the duration of the kidney dysfunction. On the other hand, among nonoliguric ARF patients, an adequate volume of urine is excreted but the urine produced contains little waste and is of poor quality because the blood is not well screened. In both oliguric and nonoliguric ARF patients, renal failure results in the accumulation of creatinine or blood urea which results in the acidification of the blood and an abnormal rise of potassium levels. ARF patients also experience changes in the body fluid balance and adverse effects on other or organ systems.