Can a child lead a normal life with a single kidney?

Q: Our children's doctor advised me to get the USG test (abdomen) for my son, (8 years old) who is getting fever for the last 10 days. In that report, it shows he has only one kidney. Will it be a problem for him? So far he has not faced any major health disasters. Do we have to take any precautionary steps? Is it going to be a major problem? He is studying in 4th class now. Kindly advise me in this regard. We are very much worried about his health now.

A:There is no problem that your child will face with one kidney. He can gothrough life normally, provided, of course, the other kidney does not getdiseased later on. Absence of one kidney is a birth defect that has no clearcause. This, in effect, does not affect the other kidney. He can eat, playand do all other activities that another child his age would do. There areno special precautions that you need to take.