Description

Overview Kidney failure, also called renal failure, is when your kidneys no longer function properly and cannot do their job anymore, that is, to get rid of waste products in the blood. A sudden drop in kidney function is called acute kidney failure. This develops quickly over a few hours or days, and mostly happens in people who are already critically ill. More commonly, kidney failure happens as the final stage of chronic kidney disease. Called ‘end stage kidney disease,’ this is when about 90% of kidney function has been lost.