Life with kidney disease

Kidney disease can affect many areas of your life, but there are ways of coping with the changes it brings.

Whether you have mild kidney disease with no or few symptoms, or you're on dialysis because your kidneys have failed, life with kidney disease can be challenging.

These challenges will vary depending on your age and the severity and cause of your kidney disease. The following issues concern people most often.

How to keep fit with kidney disease

Don't be scared to exercise. Regular physical activity is good for anyone with kidney disease, however severe. Exercise will not only boost your energy, help you sleep, strengthen your bones, ward off depression and keep you fit – it may lessen your risk of heart disease.

If you have mild to moderate kidney disease, your ability to exercise shouldn't be reduced. You should be able to exercise as often and as vigorously as someone the same age as you with healthy kidneys.

If your kidney disease is more advanced or you're already on dialysis, your ability to exercise is likely to be reduced, and you may become breathless and tired more quickly.

But don't be deterred – exercise is still beneficial. Make sure you start slowly and build up gradually. Check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise programme.

Read more about the benefits of exercise.

How to make the most of time-consuming kidney treatments

If you have mild kidney disease or you've had a transplant, treatment for your condition probably won't take up much of your time, other than regular visits to the GP surgery or hospital.

If you're on dialysis, however, treatment will be time consuming. If you include travel and recovery time, hospital or renal unit dialysis takes up most of the day for three days each week.

"Loss of time, freedom and the restriction caused by regular hospital treatment are the top complaints of dialysis patients," says Tim Statham of the National Kidney Federation (NKF).

"The key to coping well is to be positive about treatment and to find a useful or fulfilling way to spend your time while on dialysis. This might be reading, listening to language tapes or doing specially adapted fitness exercises," he says.

Home dialysis may be possible, and many people find it much more convenient than hospital dialysis. At the moment, only 1 in 100 haemodialysis patients has treatment at home. But kidney experts say many more (10-12%) are eligible. If you think you're suitable, ask your consultant or nurse for more information.

Read Paul's experience of hospital dialysis.

Watch Heather's experience of home dialysis.

Sex and pregnancy with kidney disease

If you have mild to moderate kidney disease, it's unlikely that your condition or its treatment will affect your sex life or your chances of having children.

But women and men with kidney failure may have sexual problems, and may find it more difficult to have children.

"It's important for both men and women to seek help for sexual problems such as loss of sex drive and erection problems, as they can often be fixed," says kidney consultant Professor Donal O'Donoghue.

"I'd advise young women who want children to discuss this with their doctor as early as possible so they can be informed, helped and supported in their plans."

The NKF has helpful information on sex problems and renal failure.

How kidney disease affects holidays and insurance

If you have mild kidney disease or you've had a transplant, going on holiday shouldn't pose additional health problems, whether you're staying in the UK or going abroad. The British Kidney Patient Association can support people with kidney disease wanting to get away for a break.

If you're on dialysis, you can still enjoy holidays provided you book your treatment before you go away. If you want to travel to another part of the UK, discuss your plans with your renal unit as early as you can so they can arrange dialysis at a unit close to your destination.

In many parts of the country, the lack of facilities restricts the freedom of patients to travel, but Dialysis Freedom runs a holiday dialysis "swap" scheme to help with dialysis availability in other areas.

If you're going abroad, it can be easier to arrange dialysis at short notice as some overseas centres have more facilities, although holiday destinations may get booked up early.

The NHS will look after you if you get ill while on holiday in the UK. If you're in Europe, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to free or reduced-cost hospital treatment.

It's a good idea to take out holiday health insurance in addition to carrying the EHIC. Anyone with kidney disease should declare it as a pre-existing medical condition on standard insurance application forms. It may exclude you from some policies.

The NKF website has advice on holiday insurance for people with kidney disease.

Work and kidney disease

Kidney disease is unlikely to affect your working life unless you have advanced kidney disease or you need dialysis. If you need dialysis, the dialysis unit will generally do its best to arrange your treatment times to fit in with your working schedule.

Some people can adapt their job to fit around dialysis, whereas others prefer to give up work completely in the short term. Talk to your employer as soon as you know you will need dialysis to see if you can arrange flexible or part-time working to allow you to continue your job.

If you prefer, the social worker attached to the renal unit can talk to your employer about your treatment for you.

Read more about living with kidney disease.

Advice for new kidney patients

Kidney disease often has no symptoms, so diagnosis can be a shock. You may worry that your kidney disease will worsen and you'll end up on dialysis.

In fact, the outlook in most cases is more reassuring. Kidney disease is common and usually stable (not going to get worse). Fewer than 1 in 20 people with the condition ever have kidney failure and need dialysis or a kidney transplant.

"People who have just found out they have kidney disease should try not to panic," says Tim Statham of the National Kidney Federation (NKF). "A poor kidney function does not necessarily lead to kidney failure. There may be a perfectly normal cause, such as your age. As with other organs, kidney function naturally slows down as you get older."

"Hearing that you have kidney disease can be quite challenging," adds Fiona Loud of the British Kidney Patient Association. "It is a good idea to ask your GP for advice about how it could affect you and for guidance on looking after your kidneys from now on."

Lifestyle tips for kidney disease

Although your kidney disease is unlikely to get worse or cause you serious day-to-day problems, it is a warning about your future health. That's because kidney disease, even if it's mild and stable, automatically puts you at a higher than average risk of heart disease and stroke.

If you have kidney disease, you'll benefit from improving your lifestyle and looking after your heart even more than the general population. The NHS will support and advise you, and you can help yourself by doing the following:

• Lose any excess weight and exercise regularly (at least 150 minutes each week for the average adult). Find out if you are a healthy weight using this tool to check your BMI. Read more about how to lose weight.
• Stop smoking. Read more about how the NHS can help you stop smoking.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet. If you have severe kidney disease, a dietitian will advise if you need to follow a special diet. Read about how to achieve a balanced diet.
• Reduce the salt in your diet to help keep your blood pressure down, and avoid salt substitutes, too. Read more about how to cut down on salt.
• Take extra care to keep your blood pressure and blood sugar at normal levels if you have diabetes or high blood pressure.
• Drink water as normal when you feel you want to, unless you've been advised otherwise by your doctor or dietitian. There's no evidence that drinking extra water or fluids will help if you have kidney disease. Read more about how much water you should drink.

Here's more information on how to look after yourself if you have kidney disease.

Vaccinations and kidney disease

It's important that you are vaccinated against:

• flu (every year)
• pneumonia (also called the pneumo jab)

Kidney disease puts you at higher risk of catching flu. There's also a greater chance if you catch flu that it will lead to more serious illnesses, including bronchitis and pneumonia.

Flu and pneumonia vaccinations are free from your local GP surgery for kidney disease patients. The flu jab is available each autumn from September. The pneumo jab is usually only needed once, but some people need booster doses every five years.

Read more about the flu jab.

Read more about the pneumo jab.

If you have kidney failure, you should be vaccinated against hepatitis B before you start dialysis or have a kidney transplant.

Read more about the hepatitis B vaccination.

Medicines and kidney disease

If you have kidney disease, it's important to take care with pharmacy medicines as some can be potentially harmful. Read more about pharmacy remedies and kidney disease.

Kidney problems are made worse by high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes. If you also have either of these conditions, your doctor will probably prescribe long-term daily tablets to prevent kidney damage.

Blood pressure-lowering tablets called ACE inhibitors are usually prescribed. These protect the kidneys, but can sometimes cause a cough. If that happens, a similar group of tablets known as angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) can be used.

Although both ACE inhibitors and ARBs protect your kidneys, they can cause problems if you are dehydrated, so you should ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you have diarrhoea and vomiting.

Because kidney disease puts you at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes), your doctor may offer you medicines called statins. Statins lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

If you have kidney disease, your doctor may alter the doses of medicines you are taking for other conditions. They may also advise that you temporarily stop taking some of your prescribed medicines if you become unwell with diarrhoea, vomiting or a fever. That's to avoid the risk of further dehydration or damage to your kidneys.

However, you should never stop taking any prescribed medicines without checking with a doctor or pharmacist first. It's important to restart your medicines once you are better.

Severe kidney disease

Sometimes it's not possible to stop kidney disease getting worse. If your kidney disease is already severe or in decline, your GP will refer you to a hospital-based kidney specialist team, who will work out a treatment plan for you.

This may include following a special diet and taking additional medicines, such as iron treatment to prevent anaemia, and vitamin D supplements for healthy bones and muscles.

The hospital team of doctors, nurses, dietitians, social workers and pharmacists will help you prepare for the possibility of going on to dialysis or having a kidney transplant.

Further info and support for kidney patients

Read more about the treatment of kidney disease and living with the condition.

There are local kidney patient support organisations run by kidney patients in most hospitals, so ask at your unit for details or find your nearest Kidney Patient Association.

Who should get tested for kidney disease?

Experts suspect there are about a million people with moderate to severe kidney disease who are unaware that they have the condition. A quick simple test is available from your GP.

Kidney disease usually has no symptoms until it's at a serious stage. "You can have quite serious kidney disease and feel absolutely fine," says Timothy Statham, chief executive of the National Kidney Federation (NKF). "You often don't know you have kidney damage until your kidneys have deteriorated to working at just 15% of their normal function."

Although early kidney disease displays no symptoms, it's easy for doctors to detect it. A routine blood test and urine test (to check for protein in the urine) can check whether your kidneys are working properly.

Why have a kidney test?

Everyone who is at high risk should have a test for kidney disease every year.

If you are at risk of kidney disease, your doctor should discuss with you how often you should be tested. If you have kidney disease, it's better to identify it when the disease is still at an early stage.

This is important because:

• Treatment of mild to moderate kidney disease with changes in lifestyle and medicines can slow down kidney damage and delay the need for kidney dialysis or a kidney transplant.
• Earlier diagnosis of advanced kidney disease improves the success rate of dialysis and transplant.
• Early detection and treatment of kidney disease lessens the chance of it leading to heart disease.
• Kidney disease is common, and it's affecting more and more people. The number of people receiving treatment with dialysis or kidney transplant in the UK is increasing by about 2,000 a year.
• Kidney disease increases your risk of acute kidney injury. Acute kidney injury involves sudden damage to the kidneys that causes them to stop working properly.

Who needs a kidney test?

You are most at risk of kidney disease if you have diabetes or high blood pressure (hypertension), or if you have a close relative with kidney disease.

The chances of developing kidney disease increase as you get older. You're also more likely to develop kidney disease if you're male and if you're black or south Asian.

Read more about testing for kidney disease if you're black or south Asian.

Visit your GP for a kidney test if you have:

• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• blood or protein in your urine with no known cause
• cardiovascular disease (conditions that affect the heart, arteries and veins, such as coronary heart disease or stroke)
• heart failure
• kidney stones
• an enlarged prostate
• a close relative with kidney disease
• if you are prescribed certain medicines known to cause kidney problems, including lithium or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen

Kidney symptoms to look out for

It's also important to see your doctor for a kidney test if you already have symptoms of kidney disease. These include:

• producing more or less urine than usual
• feeling more tired than usual
• loss of appetite
• shortness of breath
• feeling generally unwell for more than a few days

Read more about what's involved in having a test for kidney disease.

Kidney problems

Kidney problems are common. And the number of people with serious kidney problems, such as kidney disease and kidney cancer, is increasing.

Who's at risk of kidney disease?

In many cases, the cause of chronic kidney disease isn’t clear, but it’s more common in people who have:

• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• vascular disease (narrowing of the kidney’s blood vessels)
• heart problems
• a history of other types of kidney problems, such as kidney infections and kidney stones

Kidneys are vital organs that remove excess water and cleanse the blood of toxins. When the kidneys fail, waste products and fluid build up in the body, making you feel unwell, gain weight, become breathless, and get swollen hands and feet.

The kidneys also produce hormones that help to control blood pressure, boost the production of red blood cells and help keep bones healthy. This means that if kidney damage is severe it can lead to high blood pressure, anaemia and bone disease.

What can go wrong with the kidneys?

The main kidney complaints are:

• kidney infections
• kidney stones
• kidney cancer
• kidney disease
• acute kidney injury

Kidney infections

These usually happen when bacteria in the bladder travel up to the kidneys. They can cause pain in the lower back and when passing urine, blood in the urine, cloudy and smelly urine, and fever. Kidney infections are more common in women. They can usually be cleared up with a course of antibiotic tablets.

Read more about kidney infections.

Kidney stones

Kidney stones are lumps of crystals that can develop in one or both kidneys. They vary from the size of a grain of sand to a golf ball. Small ones generally pass out with the urine. Although they don't cause any serious problems, this can be very painful, especially for men. Bigger stones can get stuck in the kidney or block the ureter (the tube from the kidneys to the bladder). This causes intense pain in the back or side of your abdomen, which may spread into the groin.

Read more about kidney stones.

Kidney cancer

Kidney cancer is the eighth most common cancer in adults in the UK. The number of people in the UK diagnosed every year has risen by almost a third in the last 10 years. This may be due to the rise in obesity.

Read more about kidney cancer.

Kidney disease

Kidney disease (also known as chronic kidney disease) is a term used by doctors to include any abnormality of the kidneys, even if there is only very slight damage. ‘Chronic’ simply means a condition that does not get completely better.

Most people with kidney disease have a mild form of the disease. However, kidney disease still puts them at a higher risk of cardiovascular problems, such as heart disease and stroke.

A small but significant number of people with kidney disease develop life-threatening kidney failure, requiring treatment with dialysis or a kidney transplant. As with kidney cancer, kidney disease is on the increase in the UK, probably because of the rise in diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Read more about kidney disease.

Acute kidney injury

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is sudden damage to the kidneys that causes them to stop working properly. It can range from minor loss of kidney function to complete kidney failure.

AKI is common and normally happens as a complication of another serious illness. This type of kidney damage is usually seen in older people who are unwell enough to be admitted to hospital.

Read more about acute kidney injury.

Pharmacy remedies and kidney disease

Some remedies are potentially harmful for people with kidney disease. Make sure you check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking a new over-the-counter medicine.

"People with low levels of kidney function whose kidney disease is advanced have to be the most careful," says consultant renal physician, Professor Donal O'Donoghue.

"Most people with mild to moderate kidney disease who are otherwise healthy can safely take the same over-the-counter remedies as the rest of the population.

"Whatever the stage of your kidney function, however, I'd always recommend talking to your pharmacist or doctor before taking over-the-counter remedies, so you can weigh up the risks and benefits."

According to Professor O'Donoghue, you're at higher risk of being harmed by certain over-the-counter remedies if:

• you become dehydrated (for instance, with diarrhoea and vomiting) or have a feverish illness
• you have advanced kidney disease (stage 4 or 5, or a kidney function below 30% of normal)
• you have mild to moderate kidney disease (stage 3 with a kidney function between 30% and 60% of normal) and are elderly with another serious illness, such as coronary heart disease

Here is a list spelling out which over-the-counter remedies are safe for you to use if you have kidney disease and which you should avoid. This is just a guide. For more detailed information, consult your pharmacist, renal specialist or GP.

Headache remedies

What's safe:

Paracetamol is safe and the best choice of painkiller to treat a headache. However, you should avoid soluble paracetamol products, as they are high in sodium.

What to avoid:

If your kidney function is less than 50%, avoid painkillers containing aspirin, ibuprofen or similar drugs, such as diclofenac, which has recently become available as Voltarol Pain-eze tablets. These products can deteriorate the function of damaged kidneys.

You should also avoid ibuprofen if you're taking anti-rejection treatment after a kidney transplant.

Low-dose aspirin of 75-150 milligrams (mg) a day can be used if it's prescribed for the prevention of vascular disease.

Cough and cold medicines

Many of the products available for coughs and colds contain a mixture of ingredients, so check the packaging carefully.

What's safe:

Any product that contains paracetamol.

What to avoid:

Some cough and cold remedies contain high doses of aspirin, which it's best to avoid.

Many cold remedies also contain decongestants, which you should avoid if you have high blood pressure.

The best way to clear congestion is by steam inhalation with menthol or eucalyptus. For coughs, try a simple linctus or glycerine honey and lemon to soothe your throat.

Muscle and joint pain relievers

What's safe:

If you have muscle or joint pain, it's best to use skin creams and lotions such as Deep Heat, Ralgex and Tiger Balm, which you rub on to the painful area.

What to avoid:

Avoid tablets containing ibuprofen or similar drugs, such as diclofenac, if your kidney function is below 50%.

Ibuleve (ibuprofen-containing) gel or spray is safer than ibuprofen tablets. However, it isn't completely risk-free, as a small amount of the drug penetrates your skin and goes into the bloodstream.

Indigestion remedies

What's safe:

For occasional treatment of indigestion, Gaviscon liquid or tablets are safe, as are Remegel and Rennie tablets, which contain calcium carbonate.

What to avoid:

Don't use Gaviscon Advance to treat indigestion, as it contains potassium. Avoid aluminium- or magnesium-containing medicines, such as Aludrox or Maalox, unless they're prescribed by a renal doctor.

Heartburn remedies

What's safe:

Ranitidine (Zantac), famotidine (Pepcid) and omeprazole (Losec) are safe to use for short-term relief of heartburn.

What to avoid:

Avoid cimetidine (Tagamet) for heartburn, as it can lead to a rise in the blood test for creatinine, making it seem as if your kidney function has worsened.

Hay fever and anti-allergy medicines

What's safe:

Antihistamine tablets, nasal sprays and eye drops, including well-known brands such as Piriton (chlorpheniramine) and Clarityn (loratadine), are safe to take to relieve allergy symptoms. Preparations containing sodium cromoglycate, such as Opticrom Eye Drops, are also safe.

If you use Zirtek (cetirizine) and your kidney function is below 50%, you will need to either reduce the dose you take, take it only every other day, or avoid it altogether. Your doctor or pharmacist can advise you.

Read more about antihistamines.

Soluble vitamins

Effervescent vitamin tablets can contain up to 1 gram (g) of salt per tablet. Switch to a non-effervescent tablet if you've been advised to watch or reduce your salt intake.

Constipation remedies

What's safe:

You can use Senna tablets to treat constipation. If your constipation continues, you should speak to your GP.

What to avoid:

Fybogel only works if you drink a lot, so it's not suitable for people with kidney disease.

Diarrhoea remedies

What’s safe:

You can use liquid Loperamide (Imodium) to treat diarrhoea.

If you have diarrhoea and vomiting and kidney problems, you should see your doctor or pharmacist for advice.

Complementary remedies

What's safe:

Homeopathic medicines are safe for kidney patients.

Read more about homeopathy.

What to avoid:

Avoid herbal medicines if you have kidney disease, because they can raise blood pressure. Some, such as St John's Wort (for low mood), can interact with medicines prescribed for kidney disease. Others, such as echinacea (used as a colds and flu remedy), can directly affect kidney function, so you should get advice from your doctor or pharmacist before using them.

Another problem is that different brands (and even different batches of the same brand) of herbal remedy can vary widely in terms of the amount of active ingredient they contain. This makes it difficult to predict how strong a dose will be.

Read more about how your pharmacist can advise you on over-the-counter medicines and kidney disease.

Helping your child live with kidney disease

Having kidney disease affects children in many ways. They may need to take medicines and alter their diet, and can also face challenges at school.

It's only natural to worry if you have a child with kidney disease. Parents often have questions about their child's health. We answer some of the most common ones.

It can be helpful for parents to talk to members of the renal team, such as the social worker or clinical psychologist. Other parents and patient support groups may also be able to help.

Can I give a kidney to my child?

As a parent, your first instinct may be to deal with your child's condition by giving them one of your kidneys. Around half of all kidney transplants carried out are now from living donors.

Living organ donation usually involves one family member donating an organ to another family member or a partner. The relative is usually blood related – a parent, brother, sister or child. It's possible for a healthy person to lead a completely normal life with only one working kidney.

Considering donating a kidney is a big step. It's major surgery, and will only go ahead once strict rules are met and after a thorough process of assessment and discussion. Talk to your child's renal team if you want to explore whether donation could be an option for you and your child.

Will my child grow normally?

The kidneys play an important role in a child's growth, so children with kidney disease may not grow as well as their peers. To make the problem worse, their illness can make them feel sick, alter their sense of taste and reduce their appetite.

How to help

It's important to make sure that children with kidney disease get enough nutrition. Talk to your child's doctor about ways to help boost growth. Taking supplements and limiting certain foods while eating more fats and carbohydrates to increase calorie intake can help. Some children benefit from injections of growth hormone.

Will my child have a problem making friends?

Children with kidney disease can have trouble making friends and fitting in with children of their own age. This can be because they miss time off school.

It can also be because of a child's natural concern that their kidney disease makes them different from other children. Children can lack confidence if they're small for their age and their appearance has changed (for example, if they are bloated) as a result of their condition and its treatment.

How to help

Find ways to encourage your child to meet other children and make friends. They can meet other children through nurseries, playgroups, school and after-school clubs. Having children over for tea and sleepovers and, in the case of older children, using social networking sites, such as Facebook, can help encourage them to make friends.

Will my child have difficulties at school?

Kidney disease itself doesn't usually cause problems with learning, but children who have had kidney disease from a young age may spend so much time in hospital that they struggle with schoolwork. They usually catch up as they get older.

How to help

If your child misses school, do all you can to help them with their schoolwork. Talk to their teachers as early as possible to make a homework plan that your child can get on with while they're in hospital.

Make sure your child is getting as much extra educational support as possible from the school. The hospital teachers can also help and advise you.

If you have concerns about your child's development or learning, talk to your child's school.

Read more about how to talk to the school about your child's health condition.

Should children with kidney disease do sport?

It's tempting to be overprotective of a sick child. In general, sport and exercise is great for children with kidney disease. But bear in mind that they may get tired more easily than their friends and classmates.

How to help

Encourage your child to do all the activities their friends do. If your child is on dialysis, swimming might not be possible. In some cases, particularly after a kidney transplant, children should also avoid contact sports. Otherwise, they can safely take part in most sports.

Find out 10 ways to get active with your kids.

The British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA) organises activity holidays for children with kidney disease. Ask your child's doctor about these, or visit the BKPA website.

What if my child refuses their medicine?

Taking medicines is part of life for most children and young people with kidney disease. They can find this a strain and may stop taking their medicines.

How to help

Try to work out why they don't want to take their medicines. Children, especially teenagers, may stop taking their medicines because they can cause unflattering changes in appearance.

Talk to them about why taking their medicines is important for their health and what will happen if they don't. Be careful not to scare your child into taking their medicines.

Explaining to older children and teenagers why they need to be responsible for taking their own medicines can make them more likely to keep taking their tablets.

It can also help to involve the renal team that's looking after your child, as they will have lots of experience of tackling this problem with other children and young people.

It's very important that you let the renal team know immediately if you think your child isn't taking their medicines.

Who can my child talk to about kidney disease?

All children's kidney teams have different professionals on hand to chat to your child. These include doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, play specialists, teachers and some youth workers.

How to help

Arrange for your child to talk to a member of the kidney team. It can also help if they meet a young adult who had chronic kidney disease during childhood, or another child of their own age. You can find contacts through your doctor, local support group, or the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA).

How do I explain kidney disease to my other children?

Brothers and sisters of children with kidney disease may feel left out and worried. They need time with you to talk over their worries and feel part of the overall plan.

How to help

Your child's kidney team is there to help the whole family. Ask the play specialist, psychologist or social worker to spend time talking to your child's brothers and sisters and answering their questions.

Keeping your kidneys healthy

Kidneys are vital to your overall health, so it's important to look after them. Five simple lifestyle steps can help you keep them in good shape.

Stay hydrated

Drinking plenty of fluid will help your kidneys function properly. Your urine should be straw-coloured. If it's any darker that may be a sign of dehydration.

During hot weather in the summer, when travelling in hot countries, or when exercising strenuously, you need to drink more water than usual to make up for the fluid lost by sweating.

Eat healthily

Video: how to take care of your kidneys

A balanced diet ensures you get all the minerals and vitamins your body needs. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables and grains, such as wholewheat pasta, bread and rice. Don't eat too much salty or fatty food.

Read eight tips for healthy eating.

Watch your blood pressure

Have your blood pressure checked regularly. Raised blood pressure has no symptoms, but it can increase your risk of kidney and heart problems. A simple, quick and painless blood pressure check is available free of charge at your GP surgery and many high street pharmacies.

If your blood pressure is higher than it should be, your GP can suggest lifestyle changes or, if necessary, prescribe medication to reduce your blood pressure.

Read more about how to prevent high blood pressure.

Don't smoke or drink too much alcohol

Try to stop smoking completely and limit yourself to two small drinks a day for a man and one small drink a day for a woman. Smoking and drinking too much alcohol raise your blood pressure. High blood pressure is one of the most common causes of kidney disease.

Read more about how to stop smoking.

Read more about how to cut down on alcohol.

Black and south Asian kidney health

Black and south Asian people are three to five times more likely to have kidney failure than white people, but many are unaware of the condition.

If you are black or south Asian, you're more likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure than the general population. This means you're also more likely to develop kidney problems, which are both common causes of kidney disease.

Kidney Research UK is a national charity that raises awareness of kidney disease among black and south Asian communities.

"Many black and south Asian people know about the higher prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure in their communities, but they don't realise the direct link between these conditions and kidney failure," says Kidney Research UK's Neerja Jain.

"Kidney disease is also more likely to be progressive (worsen to the point of kidney failure) in some black and Asian groups," she says.

"South Asian patients with diabetes are 10 times more likely to go on to have kidney failure than white Caucasians with diabetes," says Neerja. "So it's vital that diabetes and blood pressure in this group is well-controlled to reduce the likelihood of complications such as kidney damage."

Should you have a kidney test?

You're at higher risk of kidney disease if you're black or south Asian and also have:

• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• protein in the urine
• a close family member with kidney failure

If you're at higher risk, visit your GP and ask to be examined for kidney disease. This will involve measuring your blood pressure and having a urine and blood test to see how well your kidneys are working. If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you should be routinely tested anyway.

Could you donate a kidney?

Black and south Asian people in the UK often wait longer for a kidney transplant than other ethnic groups, so more people from these groups are needed to join the Organ Donor Register. That's because they are more likely to share the same tissue type and blood group as other black or south Asian people, reducing the risk of the body rejecting the donated kidney.