If you are worried about your kidney function, you should be checked with simple tests as routine blood and urine tests (looking for protein or albumin in the urine) and a calculation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) based on a serum creatinine measurement (showing how efficiently the kidneys are filtering wastes from the blood).
Impaired kidney function, often, develops during many years, slowly, and results in kidney failure.
Small or mild declines in kidney function, as much as 30 to 40 percent, would rarely be noticeable.
When kidney function drops below 10 to 15 percent, a person needs some form of renal replacement therapy, either blood-cleansing treatments called dialysis or a kidney transplant, to sustain life.
People with only one healthy, well functioning kidney can lead normal life.
Regulating blood pressure, keeping the blood glucose levels in normal range, not using certain medications that are harmful for kidney, helps avoiding kidneys damage.