Your kidneys are 2 bean-shaped organs that are responsible for filter the blood and remove waste and excess water to produce urine. They also help maintain the balance of chemicals, such as sodium, potassium, and calcium, in the body.
So it is not surprising that some toxic substances can end up damaging this important filter that you have in your body.
Many Medications can also affect kidney function eventually causing kidney damage.
In fact, drugs are responsible for up to 25% of hospitalizations due to acute renal failure in the general population and this percentage can reach up to 66% in the elderly population, according to a report on renal failure prepared by the General Council of Colleges. Pharmaceutical Officers (CGCOF).
The good news is that in most cases these damages tend to be reversible after discontinuing the administration, as the CGCOF document states.
The drug-induced nephrotoxicity It is usually caused by prolonged use or due to the amount of treatment administered, so replacing it with a similar one or reducing its dose can minimize risks.
The people more predisposed to suffer this kidney damage from drugs They are those “who have one kidney, those with renal atrophy, hypertensives or advanced cardiovascular disease, diabetics and pregnant women,” he comments to take care plus Juan Antonio Martín Navarro, nephrologist at the Infanta Leonor Hospital in Madrid and coordinator of the Nefrotox project of the Spanish Society of Nephrology.
Now, if you are taking any of them, do not stop doing it. If you are concerned that it may impact the health of your kidney, talk to your doctor beforehand.
The drugs that damage the kidney the most
non-steroidal anti-inflammatories
NSAIDs are estimated to cause between 2% and 5% of all end-stage renal disease in the United States. Among the causes, these drugs reduce renal blood flow, which can cause damage when used frequently.
These are a series of drugs that reduce fever and inflammation, and help relieve pain. Some examples are to aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen.
anti-infectives
According to the document, some antibiotics are nephrotoxic, may cause or aggravate kidney failure.
For example, antibiotics aminoglycosides, some beta-lactams, vancomycin, colistin, fluoroquinolones, particularly those that are eliminated via the kidneys—levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, and norfloxacin—and tetracyclines.
The report also points to certain antituberculous drugs—rifampicin, ethambutol, isoniazid—, antiparasitics, antivirals, and some antifungals, warning that “patients with severe renal insufficiency should not be treated with IV itraconazole.
cardiovascular drugs
The calcium antagonists produce renal vasodilation. At doses greater than 200 mg/day, the hydralazine It can lead to reversible glomerulonephritis—inflammation of the small filters in the kidneys. The statins and gemfibrozil, in addition to clofibrate they can also cause kidney damage. Norepinephrine and dopamine (in high doses) produce vasoconstriction, renal hypoperfusion, and prerenal acute renal failure.
diuretics
This includes thiazides or potassium-sparing diuretics.
Psychoactive drugs
He lithium and the general anesthetic sevoflurane They can be harmful to the kidney when their use is not appropriate.
Immunosuppressants
Nephrotoxicity is the main cyclosporine adverse reaction
Radiographic contrasts
Contrast nephrotoxicity appears in 1-20% of patients and is characterized by an increase in plasma creatinine levels within 3 days of injection of the contrast medium.
Drugs for the digestive system
In patients with renal failure, the antacids containing aluminium, calcium or magnesium, Plasma levels of these cations increase. Cases of acute tubulointerstitial nephritis have been reported with proton pump inhibitors.
