Healthy kidneys remove waste from your blood. The waste then leaves your body in your urine. The kidneys also help control blood pressure and make red blood cells.

When the kidneys are damaged, they cannot remove waste from the blood as well as they should. This is called chronic kidney disease. Almost 20 million people in the United States have this disease.

The most common causes of CKD are high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. CKD can lead to kidney failure, but early treatment can slow or prevent this. Chronic kidney disease can also be caused by infections or urinary blockages.

• Feeling tired
• Feeling weak
• Loss of appetite
• Not sleeping
• Not thinking clearly
• Swelling of the feet and ankles

Even with the right treatments, CKD can get worse over time. Your kidneys could stop working. This is called kidney failure. If this happens, waste builds up in your body. This can cause vomiting, weakness, confusion and coma.

If you have kidney failure, your doctor will send you for dialysis. In dialysis, a machine is used to take waste out of the blood. One kind of dialysis has to be done in a clinic. For another kind of dialysis, the machine is so small it can be strapped to your body while you go about your daily activities.