DID YOU KNOW? … Your kidneys help keep you alive and well! They flush all the rubbish out of our bodies, help control our blood pressure, tell our bodies to make red blood cells, and make Vitamin D which keeps our muscles and bones strong!
Sometimes, our kidneys get sick. They can even die!
When your kidneys get sick, you may not know until it gets very serious because the symptoms don’t show. But the changes get worse as the kidneys get sicker. You may have high blood pressure, blood in your urine (wee), puffiness in legs, ankles or eyes, tiredness, loss of appetite, poor sleep, headaches, poor concentration, itchy skin, difficulty in breathing, muscle cramps or ‘pins and needles’ in fingers and toes, bad breath and you may need to wee more.
First Nations People have a higher chance of getting kidney disease.
But there are things we can all do to help keep our kidneys healthy. If we exercise and eat healthily, we can keep the weight off. (This reduces our risk of diabetes as well; which is also important for good kidney health). We can drink lots of fresh water. We can shower daily and wash our clothes to help stop skin infections. We can reduce our alcohol intake, and avoid smoking and drugs. We can check our blood pressure regularly. We can avoid or reduce salt. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, we can get our kidneys checked.
If you’d like more information, come to CRAICCHS or give us a call FREE CALL 1800 698 600. Or you can visit, www.kidney.org.au or FREE CALL Kidney Health Australia 1800 454 363.
Or come on down to CRAICCHS for a kidney health check. You can book an appointment at any time through FREE CALL 1800 698 600.
‘Coz we love ya kidneys too!!! 🙂
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