Kidney Diseases

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• Health Check Tools
• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

You have two kidneys, each about the size of your fist. They are near the middle of your back, just below the rib cage. Inside each kidney there are about a million tiny structures called nephrons. They filter your blood. They remove wastes and extra water, which become urine. The urine flows through tubes called ureters. It goes to your bladder, which stores the urine until you go to the bathroom.

Most kidney diseases attack the nephrons. This damage may leave kidneys unable to remove wastes. Causes can include genetic problems, injuries, or medicines. You have a higher risk of kidney disease if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a close family member with kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease damages the nephrons slowly over several years. Other kidney problems include

• Cancer
• Cysts
• Stones
• Infections

Your doctor can do blood and urine tests to check if you have kidney disease. If your kidneys fail, you will need dialysis or a kidney transplant.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

• Keep Your Kidneys Healthy: Catch Kidney Disease Early (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Kidneys and How They Work (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Alport Syndrome Diagnosis (Alport Syndrome Foundation)
• Creatinine Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Kidney Tests: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Urinalysis: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Keep Your Kidneys Healthy (National Kidney Disease Education Program) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Dandelion (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
• Kidney removal - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Nephrectomy (Kidney Removal) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Low Phosphorus Diet: Best for Kidney Disease? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Phosphorous and Your CKD Diet (National Kidney Foundation)

Related Issues

• Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Ectopic Kidney (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Hydronephrosis (National Kidney Foundation)
• Keeping Kidneys Safe: Smart Choices about Medicines (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Pain Medicines (Analgesics) (National Kidney Foundation)
• Renal Disease and Adult Vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

• Alport Syndrome (National Kidney Foundation)
• Amyloidosis and Kidney Disease (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Glomerular Diseases (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Goodpasture Syndrome (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• IgA Nephropathy (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Interstitial Nephritis (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Lupus Nephritis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Nephrotic Syndrome (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Nephrotic Syndrome in Adults (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Renal Tubular Acidosis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Solitary Kidney (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: 17q12 deletion syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: action myoclonus-renal failure syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Alport syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Bardet-Biedl syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Bartter syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: branchiootorenal/branchiootic syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: C3 glomerulopathy (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: complete LCAT deficiency (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: congenital nephrotic syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: cystinosis (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Dent disease (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Denys-Drash syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Frasier syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Gitelman syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: hyperphosphatemic familial tumoral calcinosis (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Lowe syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Mainzer-Saldino syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: medullary cystic kidney disease type 1 (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: nail-patella syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: REN-related kidney disease (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: renal coloboma syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: renal hypouricemia (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: renal tubular acidosis with deafness (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: renal tubular dysgenesis (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Senior-Løken syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: SLC4A1-associated distal renal tubular acidosis (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Townes-Brocks Syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: uromodulin-associated kidney disease (National Library of Medicine)

Health Check Tools

• Kidneys and Your Health: Kidney Health Assessment Quiz (National Kidney Foundation)

Videos and Tutorials

• Kidney School (Life Options Rehabilitation Program)

Statistics and Research

• FastStats: Kidney Disease (National Center for Health Statistics)
• Kidney Disease Statistics for the United States (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• National Kidney Foundation Newsroom (National Kidney Foundation)
• New Study Shows 59 Percent of Americans Will Develop Kidney Disease in Their Lifetime (National Kidney Foundation)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Kidney Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Nephritis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Polycystic Kidney Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The use of different dialysis membranes in therapy of patients with...
• Article: Recommendations for the management of patients with immune-mediated kidney disease during...
• Article: Is the kidney a target of SARS-CoV-2?
• Kidney Diseases -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Kidneys and How They Work (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Kidneys and Urinary Tract (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• Find a Urologist (Urology Care Foundation)
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• National Kidney Disease Education Program
• National Kidney Foundation

Children

• Blood in the Urine (Hematuria) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Detecting Kidney and Urinary Tract Abnormalities Before Birth (National Kidney Foundation)
• Glomerulonephritis (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in Children (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Hydronephrosis in Newborns (National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse)
• Kidney Disease in Children (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Nephrotic Syndrome (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Proteinuria in Children (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Renal Tubular Acidosis (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Ultrasound: Renal (Kidneys, Ureters, Bladder) (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)
• Your Child Has Hydronephrosis (National Kidney Foundation)

Teenagers

• Kidneys and Urinary Tract (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Older Adults

• Kidney Problems (AGS Foundation for Health in Aging)

Patient Handouts

• ACE inhibitors (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Acute nephritic syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Analgesic nephropathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Atheroembolic renal disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bartter syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bilateral hydronephrosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Congenital nephrotic syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Distal renal tubular acidosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Glomerulonephritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Goodpasture syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• IgA nephropathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Injury - kidney and ureter (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Interstitial nephritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Kidney removal (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Kidney removal - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Membranoproliferative GN I (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Membranous nephropathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Minimal change disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Nephrocalcinosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Nephrotic syndrome (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Obstructive uropathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Perirenal abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Proximal renal tubular acidosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Reflux nephropathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Renal papillary necrosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Renal vein thrombosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Unilateral hydronephrosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish