Health Information

The kidneys filter waste products from the blood before turning it to urine.

Urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) is used to identify kidney disease that can occur as a complication of diabetes. If kidney disease is diagnosed early enough in people with diabetes, treatment will be more effective.

A phaeochromocytoma is a rare tumour of the adrenal glands, which sit above the kidneys. They are usually non-cancerous (benign), although around one in 10 are cancerous.

Oedema is the medical term for fluid retention in the body. The build-up of fluid causes affected tissue to become swollen. The swelling can occur in one particular part of the body – for example, as the result of an injury – or it can be more general.

The kidneys of people with nephrotic syndrome don't work properly, causing large amounts of protein to leak into their urine. It can affect people of any age, but is often first seen in children aged between two and five years.

A kidney transplant is the transfer of a healthy kidney from one person (the donor) into the body of a person who has little or no kidney function (the recipient).

Kidney stones are stone-like lumps that can develop in one or both of the kidneys. The medical name for stones in the kidneys is nephrolithiasis. If the stones cause severe pain, this is known as renal colic.

A kidney infection (pyelonephritis) is a painful and unpleasant illness caused by bacteria travelling from your bladder into one or both of your kidneys. It's more serious than cystitis, a common infection of the bladder that makes urinating painful.

Hydronephrosis is a condition where one or both kidneys become stretched and swollen as the result of a build-up of urine inside them

Glomerulonephritis is damage to the tiny filters inside your kidneys (the glomeruli). It's often caused by your immune system attacking healthy body tissue. In most cases, glomerulonephritis doesn't cause any noticeable symptoms and is often diagnosed when blood or urine tests are carried out for another reason.

Dialysis is a procedure to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly. It often involves diverting blood to a machine to be cleaned.

Corticosteroids, often known as steroids, are an anti-inflammatory medicine prescribed for a wide range of conditions. They're a man-made version of hormones normally produced by the adrenal glands (two small glands that sit on top of the kidneys).