Drinking one or two glasses occasionally is not going to affect your kidney. But, if you are a regular drinker, it can lead to severe implications. Heavy drinkers can face acute kidney failure, which can advance to chronic kidney damage.

Basically, the function of the kidney is to filter out toxic elements from your body. Its job is to maintain the pH level, produce hormones, and keep the body hydrated. But, when drinking becomes an addiction, it generates kidney diseases.

The recent data helps reveal that after consuming any alcoholic beverage, the blood pressure remains high. People also report kidney pain in the backside, which slowly progresses towards the spine, under the rib. It can get intensified, thus hindering your daily work.

Chances of developing Kidney disease due to alcohol consumption

Having more than two to five glasses of alcohol every day is another way of abusing your kidney. It can lead to –

Acute kidney disease

Alcohol is considered a harmful substance by your kidney, and it has to work harder 2x to get it out of your blood. Along with that, the kidney’s normal function is disrupted, and the filtrate rate reduces. This indirectly affects the body’s hydration level and becomes extremely dehydrated, which further affects the normal function of the organs.

You may notice specific symptoms such as exhaustion, swollen legs and face, nausea, severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc. It is essential to get the treatment at the right moment, or else it can lead to serious damage. Often, prolonged acute kidney disease can lead to a chronic kidney condition.

Chronic kidney disease

When talking about alcohol and its effect on kidneys, it is important to understand the amount of alcohol consumed daily. One drink of alcohol equals 12 ounces of beer and one glass of wine. So, if you are drinking heavily, it can block kidney function and lead to acute kidney failure. 

Treatment is possible nowadays, but it takes a long time, and often the damage is permanent. If you do not keep the alcohol amount in check, it can lead to chronic kidney damage. And, if you are also a smoker, then the damage level will become 3x. In this case, it can become life-threatening, and the only treatment is either dialysis or a kidney transplant.

UTI (Urinary Tract Infection)

If you tend to develop a UTI, then alcohol can spread the infection to the bladder, which affects the kidney. In these situations consuming alcohol decreases the pH level making the urine acidic, which severely affects the lining of the bladder, leading to kidney damage. 

The general symptoms are painful urination, dark and smelly urine, blood in urine, fever and frequent urge to urinate.

High Blood Pressure

Patients with high blood pressure are usually recommended not to drink alcohol as it not only affects the kidney. Also, it disrupts the health balance. According to recent statistics, high blood pressure diseases tend to develop more in drinkers than in non-drinkers. 

Along with that, alcohol can also affect certain medications which are prescribed for high blood pressure treatment.

Conclusion

If you consider drinking a part of your lifestyle, you need to check on alcohol consumption. For a man, seven glasses per week and eight glasses per week are the limits for a woman. Yes, indeed, alcohol does not cause all types of kidney pain, but it has the possibility of intensifying any existing kidney disease.

If you have a kidney stone, alcohol consumption can lead to a severe infection or block it, which becomes life-threatening. If any of the situations bother you, then you need immediate treatment. Get the best treatment at ILS Hospitals with state-of-art emergency care.