Thank you for participating in my education session today. I ...

[Pages:39]? Thank you for participating in my education session today. I am a Kidney Health Coach, certified by the American Kidney Fund. I took an online course that certified me to teach this material today.

? Introduce yourself. Talk about your background, and why you became a Kidney Health Coach. ? Informally survey the audience about how much they know about kidney disease, and why they chose to

participate in the education session.

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First, we're going to begin with the basics of kidney disease. And to do that, you need to know what the kidneys do. ? The kidneys are vital organs, and are as critical to life as the heart, lungs and other organs. ? The kidneys are a pair of bean shaped organs, about the size of a fist located near the lower middle part of the back, on either side of the spine. ? Most people have two kidneys, but some are born with just one. It is possible to live with just one kidney. ? Each of the kidneys is connected to the bladder by a thin tube called a ureter, as you can see in the picture.

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? The main job of the kidneys is to filter waste and extra fluid out of the blood to make urine. ? You may not realize it, but the body makes waste all the time. ? The waste comes from food we eat, and from using the muscles in the body. ? The kidneys have thousands of tiny little filters. As the blood goes through the kidneys, these filters take

out the waste, and it goes into the urine. ? Then the cleaned blood flows out of the kidneys and through the rest of the body. ? This waste builds up in the urine, so when one urinates, this waste exits the body. ? Think of the kidneys as a shower drain. As you take a shower the water flows to the drain, and your drain

cover catches anything you don't want going down the drain but allows water to pass. ? Similarly, when blood flows through the kidneys, the kidney filters remove waste from the blood so it

doesn't build up in the body. The clean blood then flows back through the body. ? Imagine if your drain cover came off, or was broken. All that extra hair and fuzz would go down the drain

and clog it, and water would build up in the shower. ? If the kidney filters are damaged or stop working, they let things the body needs ? like blood and protein

- escape through their filters, and things the body doesn't need ? like waste and extra water - start to build up in the body. ? This will cause serious illness including problems for the heart, lungs, blood, and bones. ? The kidneys have other important jobs that keep the body working the way it should. Some of the other jobs of the kidneys are to: ? Help keep the right amount of minerals in the body. Minerals include things like sodium, potassium, and calcium, which we get from food. ? The kidneys help to control blood pressure. ? They help to keep bones healthy. ? And they help the body make red blood cells.

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? Chronic kidney disease means permanent damage to the kidneys, meaning the damage cannot be reversed. ? This damage can get worse over time. ? Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease will not get better. There isn't a medicine or a treatment that can fix

damage to the kidneys. ? Once the kidneys reach a certain level of damage, they will not get better. ? It's possible to keep the damage from getting WORSE, but the damage to the kidneys won't get better.

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? There are 5 stages of kidney disease. The stage of kidney disease can be determined by a blood test. ? Stages 1-3 usually don't have symptoms, and so many people don't know they have it at that point. ? Stage 4 means the damage to the kidneys is already very severe, but still may not show very obvious

symptoms. ? By stage 5, the kidneys are nearing failure or have completely failed, and this may come as a surprise to

certain people. ? The dangerous thing about kidney disease is that many people with kidney disease don't know that they

have it until it's become pretty bad. ? In fact, some people end up in the emergency room with what seems like a serious illness, and find out that

they have had kidney disease, and are close to kidney failure! ? This happens because chronic kidney disease usually gets worse slowly, and symptoms may not appear until

the kidneys are badly damaged. ? In the late stages of chronic kidney disease, nearing kidney failure, some may notice symptoms that are

caused by waste and extra fluid building up in the body. ? These symptoms can be severe, and are definitely noticeable at this point. These symptoms are what bring

people into the ER. ? The only way to diagnose chronic kidney disease is to get tested. That's why it's so important to be tested

regularly.

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? Kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is the last stage of kidney disease. ? Kidney failure happens when the damage to the kidneys gets worse, to the point that they completely stop

working. ? Once a person reaches kidney failure, they will need to start dialysis or have a kidney transplant to live.

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? In order to beat kidney disease, you need to understand what causes it. ? I will now be going over the causes and risk factors for kidney disease.

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? Anyone can get kidney disease, but some people are more at risk than others. ? Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of kidney disease and kidney failure.

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