There has been an increase in kidney related illnesses leading to the need for a kidney transplant.
I saw an article from Doctor's Network on Facebook I thought I should share.


10 Common Habits That Damage the Kidneys
Kidney disease is one of the costliest illnesses
in the world and managing kidney disease is
very expensive.
Each year, lots of people die of kidney disease
all over the world, and the number of people
suffering from chronic renal failure, and need
dialysis or kidney transplantation to stay alive
keep increasing.
Statistics have it that, worldwide, more than
millions patients are waiting for kidney
transplants, but only a few thousands will
receive transplants because of shortage of
suitable organ donors.
Patients usually felt surprised when they are
diagnosed of Kidney Failure.
Experts have found the explanation from your
daily life habits.
Here are the top habits which lead to your
kidney failure:
1. Not emptying your bladder early: Maintaining
a full bladder for a long time is a quick way of
causing bladder damage. That the urine stays
in the bladder for a long time can cause the
bacteria breeding in urine to multiply quickly.
Once the urine refluxes back to ureter and
kidneys, the bacteria can result in kidney
infections, then urinary tract infection, and then
nephritis, even Uremia.
So, no matter how busy you are, remember to
drink a lot of water and urinate regularly. Once
you form the habit of holding back urine, it will
ultimately damage your kidneys.
2. Not drinking enough water: The main
functions of the kidneys are to regulate
erythrocyte balances and eliminate metabolic
wastes in urine. If we do not drink enough
water, the blood will be concentrated and the
blood flow to the kidney will not be adequate,
thus the function of eliminating toxins in from
blood will be impaired.
3. Taking too much salt: 95% sodium we
consume through food is metabolized by the
kidneys. Exceeding the salt intake will make the
kidneys work harder to excrete the excess salt
and can lead to decreased kidney function. This
excess sodium will cause water retention,
causing edema. Edema usually elevates blood
pressure and increases the risk of developing
kidney disease. The daily salt intake should be
controlled within 6g per day.
4. Not treating common infections quickly and
properly: Common infections, such as
pharyngitis, tonsillitis, common cold etc, usually
triggers or aggravates kidney damage. They do
this by causing an acute attack of acute
glomerulonephritis or chronic nephritis. So, you
will see that people who get kidney disease for
the first time or whose illness condition
becomes worse usually present in hospitals
with a history of cold or sore throat.
If after having cold, symptoms like blood in
urine, swelling, headache, nausea, vomiting,
fatigue, poor appetite appear, you should
consult your doctor immediately, to assess your
kidney functions, and start treatment if
compromised.
5. Eating too much meat: Eating too much
meat and protein can increase the metabolic
load of the kidney. For those suffering from
proteinuria, meat consumption too may
aggravate protein leakage, worsening renal
pathological lesion.
It is suggested that protein intake should be
0.8g/kg per day. This means that a person with
50 kg should consume 40g of protein per day.
Meat consumption per day should be limited
within 300g.
6. Not eating enough: This is equally as
dangerous as eating too much, both of them
will lead damages to your digestive organs
where is full of mucosal tissues. Mucosal
tissues relates closely to your immune system.
This is why many kidney failure patients are
diagnosed with "autoimmune kidney damages" .
7. Painkiller abuse: The use of analgesics for a
prolonged duration may reduce the flow blood
and greatly affect kidney function. In addition,
patients with analgesic-induced renal failure are
more likely to suffer from bladder cancer.
Use analgesics only when it's absolutely
necessary, learn to rest instead of taking to the
bottles. If you have been on pain killers for a
long term, it's about time you had a test to
access your renal function.
8. Missing your drugs: Hypertension and
diabetes have been shown to precipitate or
accelerate kidney damage, so if you are
diagnosed as having any of these disease don't
live your life in denial, USE YOUR DRUGS.
This will ultimately help control your condition
while also helping to preserve your kidneys.
9. Drinking too much alcohol: Drinking alcohol
without limitation may cause the deposition of
uric acid in renal tubules, causing tubular
obstruction and increasing risks of kidney
failure.
10. Not resting enough: In our society,
hypertension as a severe threat to life is largely
due to stress. A common symptom of stress is
insomnia. Blood pressure may increase by an
average of 2-5mg/Hg because of insomnia.
Chronically elevated blood pressure can cause
damage to kidney capillaries giving rise to
kidney problems. Thus, we need to develop a
good attitude to life and strike a good balance
between work and rest to protect your kidneys
and live a healthy life.
At the early stage of kidney diseases, there are
usually no the special symptoms, so lots of
patients are not diagnosed until the acute
attack appears or the illness condition develops
into the late stage. So you should endeavor to
do kidney function test from time to time to
assess how healthy your kidneys are.
Never ignore the soreness of waist, swelling of
the feet, changes in urine color or volume,
increase in night urination, palor, high blood
pressure and other such symptoms. Once
found, you should go and see your doctor
immediately.

Not just painkillers, taking overdose of some drugs can also affect the kidneys(nephrotoxic drugs eg gentamicin or by taking septrin with little water etc)

Great info, good research @Op

RockyTeee:
Not just painkillers, taking overdose of some drugs can also affect the kidneys(nephrotoxic drugs eg gentamicin or by taking septrin with little water etc)

Thanks for your contribution to the topic. We're taking note.