Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Published : February 5, 2015 6:45 PM IST
We know that painkillers while addressing the problem at hand can do considerable damage to your body. In fact, relying on them to avert pain is like pushing your health towards the path of deterioration in a planned manner, even if you aren't aware about it. More so if you are popping those pills without any medical supervision.
Most people are habitual pill-poppers, assuming nothing untoward will ever happen to them. They may either be taking common OTC medication like painkillers or antibiotics or maybe following the doctor's prescription for conditions like diabetes, hypertension for a long time (beyond the time they are asked to take them), without understanding the implications. However, kidney damage due to medicines isn't as rare as you think. A study highlighted that use of over-the-counter and prescription medications accounts for about 20 percent of cases of acute renal failure. Here are the complications of kidney disease that you should know about.
The worst part about kidney damage is that in the initial stages no symptoms are seen. As kidney failure progresses, the following symptoms may be evident:
Common drugs that damage the kidneys
Although over-use of any drug may cause kidney damage, there are several classes of drugs that have more chances of damaging the kidneys or are more nephrotoxic.
Why and how do these drugs affect the kidneys?
The kidneys contain millions of tiny structures or filtering units called nephrons which help the kidneys to filter up to 200 quarts of blood in a day. Every oral pill or medicine you take dissolves in the intestine and gets absorbed into the blood stream. The absorbed drug reaches the kidneys and is filtered to get reabsorbed back into the bloodstream. With frequent intake of medicines, the kidneys are constantly exposed to high concentrations of drugs and their end products, which could be toxic. Further, the kidneys have several attributes that allow these end-products to accumulate.
A drug that causes damage to the kidneys is called as a nephrotoxic drug. Any sort of damage to the kidneys can make them inefficient to filter out the toxins it is exposed to everyday. These toxins then start accumulating in various tissues of the body, and can even cause death.
There are several ways in which drugs may affect the kidneys:
Is the risk of kidney damage same for everyone?
Normal kidney function gradually decreases with age whether or not you take any drugs. But, people who take lots of medicines in their youth may develop a risk of kidney damage during old age. A study shows that among older people, the incidence of drug-induced nephrotoxicity may be as high as 66 per cent. People who are diabetic or have cardiovascular diseases often take multiple medications which increase their chances of kidney damage. It has been observed that intake of dietary supplements may also be related to kidney damage.
Prevention of kidney damage:
Since you may not be able to avoid taking medicines under certain conditions, here are a few ways in which you can reduce damage to your kidneys:
Image source: Getty Images
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