• Question: What causes kidney disease? Is it more common in older people than younger people?

    Asked by abbie520 to Heather, Keith on 28 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Heather Eyre

      Heather Eyre answered on 28 Jun 2013:

      The causes are really complicated. There is chronic kidney disease, which happens gradually over years, and acute kidney disease which is quick. Lets talk about chronic kidney disease first.

      Diabetes is a big cause, because there is excess sugar in the blood and that makes the kidneys work harder trying to stop it all coming out in the urine.

      High blood pressure is also bad for the kidneys as it puts physical pressure on all the delicate components. This one is really bad as poor kidney function leads to higher blood pressure!

      Yes it is more common in older people, because it takes along time for the damage to build up enough (you have about 2 million nephrons and you only need about 1 million working properly to filter your blood!)

      Acute kidney disease is usually caused by infection or direct injury, it happens quickly and affects everyone, though kidneys that are less healthy to start with are more likely to fail.

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