Respiratory and Digestive Problem in Chronic Renal Failure

Many patients with Chronic Renal Failure is afflicted with respiratory and digestive problems. In severe case, these problems may interrupt their daily activity significantly and even threaten their life. So, how do these problems occur and how to relieve them effectively?

Respiratory problem in Chronic Renal Failure

Metabolic acidosis is a major cause of respiratory problem. It can cause deep and rapid breath and severely irregular hear beat and even coma. Metabolic acidosis is attributable to the imbalance of acid-base in body. In Renal Failure, impaired kidneys lose the normal regulatory function and the alcaline substances can not neutralize the acid, thus leading to the problem.

Blood collection in lung is also attributable factors for respiratory problems in Chronic Renal Failure. As the impaired kidneys are not function normally to filter extra fluid from body, it will build up in body. In severe case, the lung and even blood vessels at all levels may be filled with fluid. Thus, it can cause difficult and short breath, etc.

Digestive Problem in Chronic Renal Failure

Digestive problems in Chronic Renal Failure mainly include nausea, vomiting, bleeding, etc. Usually, these problems appear along with elevated BUN.

Urea is the end product of proteins and it is filtered out of body by kidneys normally. However, in Chronic Renal Failure, the diseased kidneys fail to finish its job, thus resulting in high levels of urea in body. The urease can decompose the urea into ammonia which can irritate intestinal tract, resulting in digestion disorder.

Usually, dialysis can relieve the mentioned problems by filtering extra fluid and metabolic wastes from body. However, dialysis alone is not enough to manage all the complications of Chronic Renal Failure like skin itching. That is because dialysis only removes the macromolecular toxins like creatinine, BUN, but the remaining toxins like PTH, IL 6, etc still remain in body to do further damage to kidneys. Therefore, the patients' renal function still keep aggravating with dialysis going on.

As the respiratory and digestive Problems are related to impaired kidneys, the primary goal of the treatment should focus on rebuilding the kidney structure and reversing renal function.