What happens under normal conditions?
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist, located in the back of your upper abdomen on either side of your spine. When healthy, your kidneys cleanse the blood of waste products by producing urine. They also balance essential elements, such as sodium and potassium, while providing hormones necessary to regulate blood pressure and red blood cell production. What is kidney failure? Kidney (renal) failure is a non-specific term for a decrease in the function of your kidneys. The diagnosis of kidney failure covers a wide spectrum of medical disease states. If at any point in the filtering process the kidney is blocked either because of direct kidney destruction (like diabetes) or by an indirect blockage (like having a kidney stone), the result can be kidney failure. What are the different types of kidney failure? There are two main types of kidney failure – acute and chronic renal failure. Acute renal failure (ARF) occurs when the kidneys suddenly stop filter
