Consequences of Kidney Failure

When one Kidney fails

Most of us have two kidneys. Due to an injury or a disease, one kidney may be lost. The second kidney under these circumstances grows and a person can live normal life with a single kidney. It is this fact that makes it possible to transplant a kidney from one healthy person to a patient whose kidneys have failed.

When both kidneys fail

Knowing the functions performed by the kidneys, it is easy to understand that when both kidneys fail, the waste products are retained, the blood pressure becomes high, and the production of RBC and activation of vitamin D is impaired. The loss of kidney function may be sudden, over a period of days, or gradual, over a period of months to years. (A sudden loss of kidney function is called acute renal failure (ARF) while gradual loss is called chronic renal failure (CRF). While ARF usually improves if the cause is treated, CRF invariably progresses to ESRD because the cause often cannot be treated.)

Source :http://www.narmadakidney.org/INDEX.ASP?PAGE=CONSEQUENCES