Top 7 Drugs That Cause Kidney Damage: Save A Life, Share For Awareness

Your kidneys are dominantly  your blood’s filtration system.

This means that any toxins that are in your blood eventually finds their way into your kidneys, where they are later transformed and expelled through urine. All of your blood is filtered by these organs multiple times a day

Both are located on your back, along your spine, and are each about the size of a feet.

Kidney disease and failure are so hard to detect, in fact, that it’s possible to lose up to 90% of kidney function without experiencing any symptoms or problems.

Drug-Induced Kidney Damage

Drugs are one of the most common causes of kidney damage. Over the last 30 years, instances of drug-induced acute kidney injury have been on the rise (2).

According to a 2008 review published in American Family Physician: “Drugs cause approximately 20 percent of community-and hospital-acquired episodes of acute renal failure. Among older adults, the incidence of drug-induced nephrotoxicity may be as high as 66 percent.”

In part, drugs can cause kidney inflammation, which can lead to fibrosis and renal scarring, and thus, kidney failure.

Nephrotoxic Drugs That Cause Kidney Damage

Before taking any of these drugs, be aware that they are known to cause severe (and sometimes deadly) kidney damage (3,4,5).

If you already have kidney problems, these drugs can be deadly even in small doses. And so, make sure to only take medication prescribed by your healthcare provider and respect the recommended dose.

1. Antibiotics

Including: ciprofloxacin, methicillin, vancomycin, aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, amphotericin B, bacitracin, and sulfonamides.

2. Analgesics

Including: acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and other prescription and non-prescription painkillers.

3. COX-2 Inhibitors

Including: celecoxib (Celebrex), rofecoxib (Vioxx), and valdecoxib (Bextra).

4. Heartburn Drugs

Including: proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), pantoprazole (Protonix), rabeprazole (Rabecid, Aciphex), and esomeprazole (Nexium, Esotrex).

5. Antiviral Drugs

Including: acyclovir (Zovirax), used to treat herpes infection, and indinavir, ritonavir, and tenofovir, all used to treat HIV.

6. High Blood Pressure Drugs

Including: captopril (Capoten), lisinopril, ramipril, and angiotensin receptor blockers like candesartan and valsartan.

7. Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs

Including: infliximab (Remicade), chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine, which are used to treat malaria and systemic lupus erythematosus as well as rheumatoid arthritis.