According to the National Kidney Foundation, over 33% of American adults are at risk for developing kidney disease. Kidney disease impacts over 10% of the world’s population. Sadly, 90% of those with kidney disease are not aware they have it, because it is often symptomless.
What do our kidneys do for us?
We recently discussed the importance of Liver health and ways to take care of our liver. It is of equal importance that we pay attention to 2 more precious organs that are one of the main filtration systems for our body: our kidney. Much like our liver our kidneys act as a special filtration system for our body. They remove waste products from our blood. They also remove acid that is produced by the cells of our body, and help to maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals. They control blood pressure, remove extra fluid from our body, and produce urine. They also activate vitamin D to maintain healthy bones, and release the hormone that directs production of red blood cells.
Lifestyle Factors for Kidney Health
Since our kidneys are such a powerhouse that do so much for our bodies and health, it is only fitting that we take as many steps as we can to help support our kidney health. We cannot live without proper kidney function. There are many lifestyle factors that can help support overall kidney health which includes eating a healthy diet, staying hydrated with plenty of water, exercising regularly, controlling weight, quitting smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, monitoring cholesterol levels, getting annual physicals and blood work and being aware of your family health history.
In addition to lifestyle factors, it is important to monitor the health and wellness of our kidneys, especially if there is a family history of kidney disease, or someone has high blood pressure or diabetes, cancer, or takes many prescriptions, drinks a lot of alcohol, or does drugs. In addition to our standard physicals and lab work with our licensed primary care physicians, there are other ways to support our kidney health.
The At-Home Kidney Function Test from Allergy Test
We are so lucky to have state of the art lab technology to help us monitor our kidney health in a quick, easy and inexpensive way from home. Allergy Test has once again come up with an outstanding at home lab test to help us monitor our health and wellness. The at Home Kidney Test is a quick way to see if kidney health is off. Kidney dysfunction and disease is usually silent and symptomless, so taking a quick easy test such as this, can prompt a consultation for further investigation and diagnosis with your license health care provider, and help protect your kidney health. Supporting your kidney health can help prevent or halt irreversible damage, chronic illness, or even death.
The Kidney Health Test from Allergy Test is so easy to do! A testing kit will be shipped directly to you, with detailed instructions, easy to use sample collection, and a 24/7 support team available for assistance if needed. It is an easy urine test that will give you your results in 1 minute. This test will assess creatinine, protein, and specific gravity levels, which are very important kidney health parameters. Creatinine levels in urine can help look at how well your kidneys are functioning. Protein in the urine also measure how well your kidneys are working. A large amount of protein in the urine would prompt a consultation with your primary care provider to further investigate the cause of increase protein in the urine. Lastly, specific gravity measures the concentration of particles in the urine and the density of urine compared with the density of water. This is an easy and convenient way to see if you are properly hydrated and how well the kidneys are functioning. If any of these parameters are outside of the range indicated on the test, we recommend additional blood and urine lab work with your primary care provider.
