March is National Kidney Month! Did you know that African Americans are 3 times more likely to experience kidney failure? Because kidney diesease often has no symptoms, it can go unnoticed until it is very serious.

You might also have a higher chance of getting kidney disease if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diesease, and a family history of kidney failure.

But there's good news! Taking steps to live a healthy lifestyle can go a long way to cutting down your risk of getting kidney disease. Finding the disease early can also slow it down or even stop it from getting worse. Get started by following the tips below to protect your kidney health!

Ways to reduce your risk for kidney disease

• Control blood pressure and blood sugar. Watching your diet and cutting down on eating too much sugar and salt is one of the simplest ways to get a healthy blood pressure and blood sugar.
• Maintain proper weight. Don't know what your proper weight should be? Check your BMI to see what your ideal weight range should be.
• Quit smoking. Smoking harms nearly every part of he body and plays a major part in kidney disease. Talk to your doctor about nicotine-replacement therapies like gums and patches, as well as medicines to help you.
• Exercise regularly. Not only does regular exercise keep your kidneys healthy, it can also help in managing weight and blood pressure.
• Avoid overuse of pain medicine. If your kidneys aren't functioning properly, you should not use many types of pain medication because they reduce blood flow to the kidney. Check with your doctor to be sure which medicines you can use safely.

Want to know if you may be at risk for kidney disease? Take the National Kidney Foundation's Quick Kidney Risk Check to find out. To learn more ways you can protect your kidney health, visit the National Kidney Foundation website.