Top 10 Reasons to Love Your Kidneys

To help raise awareness and appreciation for all the vital functions the kidneys perform, the National Kidney Foundation offers 10 reasons for Americans to love their kidneys and take steps now to preserve kidney health: The kidneys...

1. Filter 200 liters of blood a day, removing two liters of toxins, wastes and water
2. Regulate the body’s water balance
3. Regulate blood pressure by controlling fluid levels and making the hormone that causes blood vessels to constrict
4. Support healthy bones and tissues by producing the active form of vitamin D
5. Produce the hormone that stimulates bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells
6. Keep blood minerals in balance
7. Keep electrolytes in balance
8. Regulate blood acid levels
9. Remove drugs from the blood
10. Retrieve essential nutrients so that the body can reabsorb them

Why Are the Kidneys So Important?
Most people know that a major function of the kidneys is to remove waste products and excess fluid from the body. These waste products and excess fluid are removed through the urine. The production of urine involves highly complex steps of excretion and reabsorption. This process is necessary to maintain a stable balance of body chemicals.

The critical regulation of the body's salt, potassium and acid content is performed by the kidneys. The kidneys also produce hormones that affect the function of other organs. For example, a hormone produced by the kidneys stimulates red blood cell production. Other hormones produced by the kidneys help regulate blood pressure and control calcium metabolism.

The kidneys are powerful chemical factories that perform the following functions:

* remove waste products from the body
* remove drugs from the body
* balance the body's fluids
* release hormones that regulate blood pressure
* produce an active form of vitamin D that promotes strong, healthy bones
* control the production of red blood cells

Where Are the Kidneys and How Do They Function?
There are two kidneys, each about the size of a fist, located on either side of the spine at the lowest level of the rib cage. Each kidney contains up to a million functioning units called nephrons. A nephron consists of a filtering unit of tiny blood vessels called a glomerulus attached to a tubule. When blood enters the glomerulus, it is filtered and the remaining fluid then passes along the tubule. In the tubule, chemicals and water are either added to or removed from this filtered fluid according to the body's needs, the final product being the urine we excrete.

The kidneys perform their life-sustaining job of filtering and returning to the bloodstream about 200 quarts of fluid every 24 hours. About two quarts are removed from the body in the form of urine, and about 198 quarts are recovered. The urine we excrete has been stored in the bladder for anywhere from 1 to 8 hours.

What Are Some of the Causes of Chronic Kidney Disease?
Chronic kidney disease is defined as having some type of kidney abnormality or "marker" such as protein in the urine and having decreased kidney function for three months or longer.

There are many causes of chronic kidney disease. The kidneys may be affected by diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Some kidney conditions are inherited.

Others are congenital; that is, individuals may be born with an abnormality that can affect their kidneys. The following are some of the most common types and causes of kidney damage.

Diabetes is a disease in which your body does not make enough insulin or cannot use normal amounts of insulin properly. This results in a high blood sugar level, which can cause problems in many parts of your body. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease.

High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is another common cause of kidney disease and other complications such as heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure occurs when the force of blood against your artery walls increases. When high blood pressure is controlled, the risk of complications such as chronic kidney disease is decreased.

Glomerulonephritis is a disease that causes inflammation of the kidney's tiny filtering units called the glomeruli. Glomerulonephritis may happen suddenly, for example, after a strep throat, and the individual may get well again. However, the disease may develop slowly over several years and it may cause progressive loss of kidney function.

Polycystic kidney disease is the most common inherited kidney disease. It is characterized by the formation of kidney cysts that enlarge over time and may cause serious kidney damage and even kidney failure. Other inherited diseases that affect the kidneys include Alport's Syndrome, primary hyperoxaluria and cystinuria.

Kidney stones are very common, and when they pass, they may cause severe pain in your back and side. There are many possible causes of kidney stones, including an inherited disorder that causes too much calcium to be absorbed from foods and urinary tract infections or obstructions. Sometimes, medications and diet can help to prevent recurrent stone formation. In cases where stones are too large to pass, treatments may be done to remove the stones or break them down into small pieces that can pass out of the body.

Urinary tract infections occur when germs enter the urinary tract and cause symptoms such as pain and/or burning during urination and more frequent need to urinate. These infections most often affect the bladder, but they sometimes spread to the kidneys, and they may cause fever and pain in your back.

Congenital diseases may also affect the kidneys. These usually involve some problem that occurs in the urinary tract when a baby is developing in its mother's womb. One of the most common occurs when a valve-like mechanism between the bladder and ureter (urine tube) fails to work properly and allows urine to back up (reflux) to the kidneys, causing infections and possible kidney damage.

Drugs and toxins, especially heavy metals such as LEAD and MERCURY, can also cause kidney problems. Using large numbers of over-the-counter pain relievers for a long time may be harmful to the kidneys. Certain other medications, toxins, pesticides can also cause kidney damage.

The chelating agents we use, especially EDTA, help remove the heavy metals and allow for a healthier, better functioning kidney. EDTA is actually, in and of itself, beneficial for the kidney.

The National Kidney Foundations urges all Americans to love their kidneys. To learn more about Chronic Kidney Kidney risk factors, prevention and treatment, visit www.kidney.org

Source: www.kidney.org

In an article published in the November 15, 2010, issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, researchers have found that mercury is likely to be one of the multiple causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Mercury is one of the most toxic natural substances. It poses a danger to humans and may lead to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. After a systematic review of existing experimental and clinical research literature, researchers associated with the Viadrina European University, the Samueli Institute (Virginia, USA), Northeastern University (Boston, USA) and the University Hospital Freiburg found that the symptoms and features of the Alzheimer’s disease were reproduced or accelerated when mercury was introduced.

Mercury binds tightly to selenium, a naturally occurring metal found in our diet that is important for good health. Proteins associated with selenium form a class of molecules that help prevent damage due to oxidative stress, which is the stress that occurs when metabolism takes place. Oxidative stress leads to cell death and thus aging. When mercury binds to selenium, this process may be accelerated, as are other degenerative processes in the brain.

The experimental research literature indicates that animal and cell models reproduce all the features of Alzheimer’s disease when mercury is given. For instance, one of the more widely known uses of mercury is in amalgam dental fillings, the most common type of fillings used by dentists. Studies of low-dose human exposure, such as to dentists and their staff, show that exposure to mercury is significantly correlated with neurological or psychological harm, or both.

Mercury can be introduced to the body in several ways because it evaporates at room temperatures. It can be taken up as a gas, reaching the brain directly, via the nose, or indirectly via the blood. It then crosses the blood-brain barrier and gets trapped inside the brain, where it can accumulate over long periods of time.

“The situation is similar to the early 1970s regarding smoking: enough experimental evidence existed, but human studies were inconclusive at the time and were under attack by groups with a vested interest,” said Professor Harald Walach, PhD, Viadrina European University and Samueli Institute Fellow. “To wait until irrefutable evidence has accumulated is not the best option in view of what we already know about the toxicity of mercury. The removal of inorganic mercury from ecological cycles might prove to be the easiest and most effective public health measure to contribute to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”

*All contents copyright 1995-2010 Life Extension Foundation. All rights reserved. 

Mercury is a neurotoxin and also effects many other tissues. It is not safe at any level. Period.  That is not only my opinion, it is also the statement of the World Health Organization. One of the biggest sources of mercury is amalgam fillings, also erroneously called silver fillings, which is about 50% mercury. It is well established that the mercury in these fillings can vaporize just by being exposed to warm food and liquids.  That vapor can go directly into the brain. Numerous animal studies have shown this, so it is no surprise that mercury is linked to dementia. The good news is that fewer dentists are placing new amalgam fillings. If you have any in your mouth, I recommend you have them replaced, and ONLY by a biological dentist who is trained in the proper removal of amalgam fillings.  We use protective nutritional protocols during replacement to help protect you from any possible mercury exposure, and most people will need some type of chelation treatment to get the mercury safely out of the body. Mercury also gets into the environment, and therefor food supply, by the ever more used burning of coal for fuel and other industrial sources. To one degree or another, we are all exposed and all effected by mercury and getting it out of your body will help you be healthier.