Stay hydrated to protect your kidneys

Over the next month, our pharmacies will be focusing on giving you information to stay hydrated to protect your kidneys.  Did you know that about one in five people admitted to hospital each year as an emergency has acute kidney injury?

What is acute kidney injury?

Kidneys are important to our wellbeing. They look after our bodies through the production of urine to get rid of excess water and toxins. Acute kidney injury is a sudden and recent reduction in a person’s kidney function. It is not caused as a result of a physical blow to the body.

Stay hydrated to protect your kidneys?

Stay hydrated  – Adults should aim to have six to eight glasses of fluids per day. Ideally these should be water, lower fat milks and unsweetened tea or coffee. This is especially important if you have a urinary tract infection. If this happens to you the following tips will help to protect your kidneys.

• Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration and help clear bacteria from the urinary tract
• Drink plenty of fluids such as water, diluted squash or diluted fruit juice. These are much more effective than large amounts of tea or coffee. Fizzy drinks may contain more sugar than you need and may be harder to take in large amounts
• If you’re finding it difficult to keep water down because you’re vomiting, try drinking small amounts more frequently
  Studies have tried to establish a recommended daily fluid intake, but it can vary depending on the individual and factors such as age, climate and physical activity. Passing clear (near colourless) urine (wee) is a good sign that you’re well hydrated
• If you have been told by your doctor to restrict your fluid intake, can you manage to drink about the maximum they advise?

Over the next month we will be checking the hydration messages that we give our patients who come into our pharmacies with urinary tract infections.

What else can we do to protect our kidneys?

The National Kidney Foundation has the following advice:

• Reduce salt in your diet. You can do this by eating less processed food and more fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Increase physical activity. This can help to decrease your blood pressure.
• Reduce your cholesterol levels, by eating a diet that is low in saturated fat.
• Keep high blood pressure under control. Take medicines that you have been prescribed for blood pressure regularly. If you have concerns about your medicines speak to one of our pharmacists. If you are taking blood pressure medicines and you become dehydrated please speak to one of our pharmacists for more advice. Depending on what medicines you take, sometimes we may recommend that you don’t take these medicines for one or two days whilst you recover. Once you have recovered it is important to start taking these medicines again to control your blood pressure and protect your kidneys. This leaflet has further generic information. Please speak to your pharmacist for information that is specific to you.
• If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar well controlled
• Quit smoking. This is the strongest modifiable risk factor for both kidney and heart disease is smoking.

If you want more advice on how to protect your kidneys or on any of your medicines call into one of our pharmacies.