Our kidneys are a crucial part of our body's system as a whole, but most of us never give them much thought, and we take them for granted until they stop doing their job effectively. It is estimated that as many as 26 million Americans have some sort of kidney disorder, and up to half of them have no idea that their degenerating health symptoms are tied to their unhealthy kidneys.

Healthy kidneys take the fluids brought to them by the cardiovascular system, filter out the wastes and toxins, and return the substances that are necessary and good for us back into our bloodstream. Every thirty minutes, all of the blood in our entire body passes through our kidneys for filtration! So our kidneys play an integral role in keeping our bodies healthy, and are therefore constantly busy. This workload, coupled with the fact that most of us ingest large amounts of toxins through our diet, medications and environmental surroundings, means that the kidneys can very easily develop problems. If these issues are left untreated, they can eventually contribute to kidney disease.

Kidney disease can either be acute, which means symptoms come on quickly, or chronic, which means that the problems developed more gradually, over time. Kidney disease is a term that applies to any disorder of the kidneys. This could include sediment turning into stones in the kidneys, which are extremely painful to pass. Cysts and tumors in the kidney area can cause blockages and incredible lower back pain. Infections, both bacterial and viral, can make it painful to urinate, and make it feel like you cannot eliminate all of the fluid that you should be. If your kidneys are not able to filter out toxins efficiently, they will return waste matter back into your bloodstream, causing a buildup of toxins. Also, if the kidneys are damaged, they will not regulate the chemical balance correctly, which can trigger problems such as blood being passed through your urine, and not enough red blood cells being produced, making you feel anemic, short of breath, and tired all of the time.

There are a number of options available to slow down kidney failure, and to try to restore balance and proper functioning to the kidneys. Your doctor may prescribe pharmaceutical medications, and will also look to see if there are other correlated conditions, like diabetes or high blood pressure, which can trigger kidney problems. In more advanced conditions, dialysis may be recommended, which is the process of using a machine to filter the fluid matter that they kidneys are supposed to be filtering. Im the most severe circumstances, a kidney transplant may be required.

There are many simple things that you can take initiative to do to try to restore or maintain proper kidney health. The easiest place to start is by reducing your toxic intake by maintaining a healthy diet of fresh, natural foods. Any conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure should be carefully monitored and managed. Regular cleanses of your kidneys through the use of certain herbs can be very helpful for keeping your kidneys healthy.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with kidney disease, you should be aware that you have many options, both with traditional and natural medicine, to help regain your kidney health. Herbs and nutritional therapies have been proven to go a long way in both helping to reverse kidney damage and also protecting your kidneys from further damage by treating your cause of kidney damage. When combined with the correct diet and appropriate lifestyle changes they provide the best option for regaining kidney health, without any nasty side effects.