Sodium and Kidney Disease: Understanding the Connection

The kidneys function to balance electrolytes and minerals such as sodium that enter the body, with healthy kidneys able to distinguish and eliminate high levels of sodium as waste through urine.

Function

• Kidney disease decreases normal function of waste elimination, causing excess levels of sodium to remain in extracellular fluids and blood, resulting in clogged arteries that decrease blood supply to vital organs.

Effects

• The inability of the kidneys to filter excess sodium results in high blood pressure ranging above 120/80, causing the heart to pump faster, which damages blood vessels leading to the kidneys, worsening kidney function.

Potential

• Consistently high blood pressure resulting from increased sodium levels weakens the filtering system in the kidneys, allowing more sodium to enter the bloodstream in a repetitive cycle, leading to eventual kidney failure and toxicity.

Benefits

• Individuals suffering from kidney disease are typically put on restrictive diets and medications that control fluid, potassium and sodium intake, with low-sodium diets effective in preventing complications.

Prevention/Solution

• Dialysis provides artificial kidney function, filtering out wastes such as sodium intravenously, while transplantation is necessary in kidney disease cases resulting in organ failure.