Kidney disease affects the essential body function that is connected to the kidneys. The function of the kidney is to filter blood, create new blood cells, remove waste, and help produce urine. If a patient experiences a kidney failure crisis, their kidney no longer functions properly. It can affect other organs, like the brain. The brain is bidirectional connected to the kidney, so kidney failure can also affect the brain, like brain fog, memory loss, etc. This blog helps you to know the effects of kidney failure on the brain, including cognitive, neurological, and emotional effects.
Kidney failure will be the most dangerous at the end-stage of kidney disease (ESKD). If you experience any kidney failure signs in the early stage, consult with your doctor and take suitable treatment. Because, in the end-stage, you can not survive without treatment. Take a proper treatment that can manage the kidney failure problem and provide a good life.
Types of Kidney Failure
There are two types of kidney failure: acute kidney failure and chronic kidney disease.
- Acute Kidney Failure: In this injury, the kidney’s functions stop suddenly. The kidney does not produce urine, a problem with electrolyte imbalance, and obstruction in the blood filtering. But, AKF is a temporary injury; it can affect 4 to 7 days, in rare cases, it can last up to three months.
- Chronic Kidney Disease: CKD is a long-term condition that creates problems for at least three months. If you have CKD, your kidneys do not work adequately. You may experience some kidney-related problems, such as not filtering blood, waste, etc. This can affect the brain also, and is scary for those people who have diabetes and high blood pressure problems.
How Kidney Failure Affects the Brain?
Here are some components or substances that affect the brain in kidney failure:
- Uremic Encephalopathy: It is a brain disorder that builds up toxins in the blood due to acute or chronic kidney disease. The glomerular filtration rate is also a reason for this disorder. If your estimated glomerular filtration rate is below 15 mL/min, that can cause uremic encephalopathy. Encephalopathy is a life-threatening problem, it can cause brain damage if left untreated. It can create confusion, memory loss, and other brain problems.
- Electrolyte Imbalances: They will occur when your body’s mineral levels are too high and low. Electrolyte imbalances are caused by vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, and illness. It can affect the brain with fluid imbalance, nerve signals, and disrupt cell functions.
Note: Toxin accumulation and inflammation also affect the brain in chronic kidney disease.
Effects of Kidney Failure on the Brain
Kidney failure variously affects the brain, like cognitive effects, emotional changes, neurological effects, etc.
Cognitive Effects of Kidney Failure
Cognitive effects are formed in memory loss, difficulty concentrating, slower cognitive processing, and impaired decision-making.
- Memory Loss: Memory loss is a common problem in kidney failure. The main reason for this problem is the buildup of toxins and other complications, such as anemia. In this situation, the patient experienced memory problems. The patients spell the wrong name and information, lack focus, and experience general confusion. There is a high risk of dementia in chronic kidney disease.
- Difficulty Concentrating: The difficulty concentrating problem affects you daily and your work life. In this disease, you can not concentrate on your work or activity. In the case of kidney failure, it can be caused by waste products and a decrease in red blood cells. It makes it complex to brain fog. It creates a blockage in the oxygen supply to the brain.
- Slower Cognitive Processing: Slower cognitive processing is a leading complication in kidney failure. Its vascular and inflammatory factors negatively affect the brain. If you face this problem, your response or understanding ability might be slow, and you will suffer in society.
- Impaired Decision-Making: Cognitive impairment caused the impaired decision-making problem in the kidney failure disease. You face this problem due to uremic toxins, chronic inflammation, and the effects of dialysis. With this condition, the person may not be able to make a decision without support.
Psychological and Emotional Impact
These types of diseases affect mental health, and you live a stressful life. Check out the psychological and emotional impact on the brain of kidney failure:
- Depression: Depression is one of the common mental disorders, and it hurts our mental health. In this situation, you hate those people and activities that you loved once. The symptoms are different for each patient with chronic kidney disease. Some common symptoms are:
- Depressed mood
- Loss of interest in all activities
- Major weight change (increase or decrease)
- Sleep issues
- Loss of energy
- Feelings issues
- Lack of thinking or concentrating
- Anxiety: If you feel any stress, your reaction towards society changes, which is called Anxiety. You feel worried about little things for no reason, and take it like a big problem or issue. Some common symptoms of anxiety:
- Excessive worry
- Restlessness
- Feeling on edge
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sleep problems
Neurological Complications
Neurological complications are also a factor in the effect of kidney failure on the brain. These problems affect the central or peripheral nervous system. In the neurological complications, the chronic kidney disease includes stroke, encephalopathy, peripheral neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, and cognitive dysfunction. These difficulties are similar to cognitive impairment, but both have distinct effects.
Management and Prevention Tips for Kidney Failure
Follow these prevention tips which help you from the negative effects of kidney failure on the brain:
- Regular Check-Ups: Do a regular urine test, blood test, which shows that your kidneys are working properly.
- Control Blood Pressure: Consult with a doctor if you face regular high blood pressure problems. Take only those medications suggested by the professionals.
- Control Blood Sugar or Diabetes: If you have high blood sugar, then avoid refined carbohydrates and those products which have highly added sugar. Stress and illness might be a reason for diabetes.
- Healthy Diet: Eat a healthy diet by consulting a dietitian. Use fresh vegetables and fruits in your daily diet.
- Yoga and Exercise: Control your weight by doing regular exercise. Also, you can do yoga and meditation, according to research, yoga is the best option for a patient.
- Quit Smoking and Alcohol: During the depression, people turn to smoking and alcohol. Smoking and alcohol are most dangerous for our body’s organs, including the kidneys.
Conclusion
We assure that you got the essential information regarding the effects of kidney failure on the brain. This blog covered all the possible effects, either cognitive or physiological, including renal dysfunction, depression, memory loss, etc. Also, you can follow protective tips for kidney failure by consulting a health expert