March 20th is the first official day of spring. But it’s not the only important event to happen during the month. Did you know that March is National Kidney Month? To honor the holiday, here’s what you need to know about National Kidney Month:

Background

For starters, here’s some background on why we celebrate NKD. Unfortunately, kidney disease is ninth leading cause of death in the United States. The holiday was created to raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of the disease. Hopefully, this will help people get the help they need.

What Kidneys Do

Do you know what kidneys do? Because they play a very active role in your health. For instance, they help regulate fluid levels. Also, they act as a filter by removing wastes from the blood. And they help activate Vitamin D for healthy bones. But that’s just the beginning.

Kidney Disease

Sadly, kidney disease can cause problems for your health. It can lead to nerve damage, heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney failure. Unfortunately, kidney failure does mean that dialysis treatment needs to take place.

Symptoms

Also, there are some symptoms you should be mindful of for kidney disease. If you have puffy eyes, this is one of the symptoms of kidney disease. Another is abnormal swelling in your face, hands, abdomen, ankles, and/or feet. And if there is difficult or painful urinating, or blood or foamy urine, this can be mean there’s a problem.

Prevention

Fortunately, there are some measures everyone can take to prevent kidney disease. First, you can increase your physical activity level. And you can improve your diet. Weight loss has been proven to be one of the greatest prevention methods of kidney disease.

At Abba Medical Transportation, we’re proud to honor National Kidney Month. With increased awareness, we can help people prevent or deal with kidney disease.