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Renal Failure or Kidney Failure means failure of the kidneys to perform their normal function of -
*  getting rid of waste products,
*  forming urine,

*  controlling levels of important molecules such as sodium, potassium and chloride, and

*  producing hormones that stimulate the production of red blood cells when the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is not optimized.

Renal Failure causes a range of complications:

*  build up of waste products that the kidneys usually excrete, such as urea and creatinine,

*  high or low concentrations of molecules such as sodium and potassium,
*  low numbers of red blood cells,
*  inability to concentrate the urine properly and build up of excess fluid.

Diabetes and Hypertension are the primary causes of chronic Renal Failure, accounting for two-thirds of cases

One cause of kidney failure is Diabetes Mellitus, characterised by high blood glucose (sugar) levels. Over time, the high levels of sugar in the blood damage the millions of tiny filtering units within each kidney leading to Kidney Failure.

Around 20 to 30% of people with Diabetes develop kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy), although not all of these will progress to kidney failure. A person with diabetes is susceptible to nephropathy whether they use insulin or not. The risk is related to the length of time the person has diabetes - no cure for diabetic nephropathy, and treatment is lifelong. Another name for the condition is diabetic glomerulosclerosis. People with diabetes are also at risk of other kidney problems including narrowing of the arteries to the kidneys, called renal artery stenosis or renovascular disease.

A primary cause of Diabetes, in particular Type 2 Diabetes is Obesity.

Dialysis is a primary treatment for people suffering acute Renal Failure.  Dialysis treatment costs the health care system $72,000 pa circa.  Over 2,000 Australians every day are admitted to hospital with kidney disease. One third of all admissions to public hospitals - 2,000 patients every day, is due to Dialysis. The amount of kidney patients is growing at 8.5%.  The number of patients on Dialysis is increasing at 6% per annum. Australia's health bill for treating kidney disease is growing at $1 million a week.

"Kidney failure is the seventh most frequent cause of death in Australia and exceeds road deaths, suicide, and breast cancer in number.

"As many as 2 million Australians may be affected by early-stage kidney disease and not even know it making it the silent killer with only 5% of the general population being aware of the role their kidneys perform, according to international research."