Chronic renal failure (CRF)

Chronic renal failure (CRF) is slow and progressive reduction of kidney filtration capacity. IRC usually occurs as a complication of another illness or disease. Unlike ARF, the IRC is installed gradually over several years as kidney damage. Evolution is so slow that the first symptoms appear only after the disease has caused significant clinical and biological consequences. The kidneys are paired organs shaped like beans, retroperitoneal located on either side of the spine. The main function of kidney filtration and excretion of excess water and toxic substances in the blood.
The kidneys provide three major functions: - Filtering the blood and produce urine to eliminate waste, thus preventing the accumulation of toxins in the blood - Adjusting the concentration of minerals and electrolytes (sodium, calcium and potassium) and the amount of fluid in the body - Production of hormones that act on other body functions such as regulating blood pressure (renin) and red blood cell production (erythropoietin).
Chronic renal failure is a slow and shows few signs and symptoms in the beginning phases. For this reason, many patients with chronic renal disease are not aware of this until after renal function is reduced to 25% of normal values. Among the common causes of chronic renal failure include hypertension and diabetes. The goal of treatment of chronic renal failure is to stop or slow down the disease. This may evolve into terminal renal failure in which kidney function is much reduced below normal values. In this case, patients need artificial blood filtration (dialysis) or a kidney transplant to survive.