March is National Kidney Month

A long, long time ago, in an anatomy and physiology class, I learned about the kidneys. Could I tell what it was I learned after the exam was over? Probably a good bit but I wasn’t an expert on kidneys. And once I moved on to microbiology, my brain tucked that knowledge away.

So by the time we were told our son was missing his kidneys, I had no idea how missing those two little organs would affect him so much overall. I knew it meant he wouldn’t be able to pee but I didn’t know much else.

March is National Kidney month. And our kidneys are so important. It starts before we’re even born.

From the very beginning, a baby’s kidneys are growing. Development of the kidneys from cells to organs begins around week 5. By week 13, baby is able to produce their own urine. By weeks 15 and 16, the kidneys move up into a spot that can be seen on ultrasound. And by week 20, the majority of the amniotic fluid, that surrounds and cushions the baby, is made by baby when they pee.

Enough, but not too much, amniotic fluid is essential for the healthy growth and development of baby.

Not only does it cushion and protect baby as they grow, but it also:

• Keeps baby warm and helps them maintain a proper body temperature
• Protects them from infection – amniotic fluid has antibodies in it!
• Allows them to practice breathing and develop their digestive tract by swallowing the fluid
• Allows them to move, which helps the muscles and bones develop correctly
• Prevents body parts from rubbing together, such as fingers and toes
• Protects the umbilical cord – the fluid keeps the cord, which delivers oxygen to baby, cushioned and from being squeezed which would cut off blood flow to the baby

The most important thing here, although they all matter, is the lung development and the growth. Without correctly developed lungs, baby won’t be able to breathe at birth. And without sufficient growth, baby will be too small if dialysis is needed.

Our kidneys make sure our bodies stay in a state of balance, or homeostasis. They have 6 jobs they do in the body.

Remove Waste and Extra Fluid

Your heart is constantly pumping blood throughout your body. When the blood passed through the kidneys, it goes through a filtration system. On average, the kidneys in a woman filter 150 liters of blood and in a man, 180 liters of blood. 99% of everything in that blood is given back, so you make around 1-2 liters of urine a day. This keeps your body from building up extra fluid and waste.

Remove Acid Produced by the Body

We are all made up of cells. Each cell has a different job, depending on where it is and what it’s for. When they’re doing their jobs, they naturally produce acid they breakdown. The acid levels in your blood are also changed depending on which foods you eat.

Your kidneys remove acids when there are too many and will hold onto base ions (the opposite of acids) to help counteract the acid if there is too much.

Either one that there is too much of gets taken out and put into your urine.

Balance Your Water and Minerals

If you’ve ever seen a commercial for a sports drink, you vaguely know about electrolytes. Electrolytes are things like sodium, potassium, and calcium. The kidneys help make sure that there aren’t too many of them by removing them. If you don’t have enough, they will keep them from being taken out. And again, anything that there’s too much of, the kidneys turn into urine.

If you’re drinking too much water, your kidneys will remove what you don’t need. If you’re not drinking enough water, it will pull the water back into your blood. Sensing a theme here?

And that leads straight into the next function.

Control Your Blood Pressure

If you have too much water in your blood, your blood pressure goes up. If you have too little water, your blood pressure goes down.

The kidneys also produce an enzyme called renin. They will release the renin when your blood pressure is too low, causing it to rise.

Produce hormones that make red blood cells and help keep your bones healthy

The first hormone they make is called erythropoietin which triggers the production of red blood cells (RBCs). RBCs carry oxygen to your tissues so a lack of them can affect your breathing.

They also make calcitriol, which is the active form of good old vitamin D. Vitamin D helps with the absorption of calcium which keeps your bones strong. There’s a good bit more vitamin D does but I won’t get into that here.

Helps Control your Blood Sugar

Your liver does this as well. The kidneys can use an amino acid call glutamine to make new glucose cells. When you eat something high in carbohydrates, they release the glucose into your blood to help control your blood sugar.

Okay, time for a brain break, right?

But really, without your kidneys doing your job properly, your body would fall out of balance and you would start to feel sick. And when one organ system stops working right, the rest of those systems get stressed out. It’s a domino effect.

And unless you get them working right again, you can end up in kidney failure. That’s when medications and dialysis (a machine that cleans out your blood for you) become needed and often lead to needing a kidney transplant to survive.

The average amount of time waiting on the transplant list for a new kidneys is around 3.5 years and 13 people die each day waiting for one. The majority of people on the transplant list are waiting for a kidney.

We can take care of our kidneys by:

• Drinking enough water
• Exercising and staying active
• Eating a healthy diet full of vitamins and minerals
• Checking and controlling your blood sugar and blood pressure
• Not smoking
• Avoiding taking drugs like ibuprofen and Tylenol regularly – overuse can cause damage to the kidneys
• Getting screened if you have risk factors for kidney disease like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney disease

I know this post isn’t one of my typical ones and probably reads like a public service announcement. But kidneys are so important and so is advocating for kidney health. And that’s why National Kidney Month matters.

My son didn’t get his kidneys and so one of the ways I try and honor him is to care for the gift of two little red, bean shaped organs I have in my abdomen called my kidneys. And we can all do a better job of keeping ours healthy with just a little extra knowledge.