Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fists. They are located near the middle of your back, just below the rib cage. Inside each kidney, about a million tiny structures called nephrons filter the blood. They remove waste products and extra water, which become urine. The urine flows through tubes called ureters to your bladder, which stores the urine until you go to the bathroom. Most kidney diseases attack the nephrons. This damage may leave the kidneys unable to remove waste. Causes can include genetic problems, injuries, or medicines. You are at greater risk for kidney disease if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a hereditary kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease damages the nephrons slowly over several years.
Kidney stones: A kidney stone is a solid mass that consists of a collection of tiny crystals. There can be one or more stones present at the same time in the kidney or in the ureter. Each year, more than half a million people go to emergency rooms for kidney stone problems. It is thought that one in ten people will have a kidney stone at some point in their lives. The peak age for stones is between 20 and 50 years. Other diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, chronic diarrhoea, or kidney cysts might increase the risk of stones. Diabetes increases the risk of developing kidney stones, especially in younger women. Only about 25% of kidney stones occur in people with a family history of stones. Statistics show increasing numbers of children with kidney stones due to the erratic modern lifestyle and eating and drinking habits.
Kidney failure/renal failure: Chronic kidney disease occurs when one suffers from a gradual and usually permanent loss of kidney function over time. This happens gradually, usually over the course of months or years. With loss of kidney function, there is an accumulation of water, waste, and toxic substances in the body that are normally excreted by the kidney. Loss of kidney function also causes other problems such as anaemia, high blood pressure, acidosis (excessive acidity of body fluids), disorders of cholesterol and fatty acids, and bone disease. In severe cases where there is total or near-total loss of kidney function. There is a dangerous accumulation of water, waste, and toxic substances, and most
individuals in this stage of kidney disease need dialysis or transplantation to stay alive.