Kidney Disease & Nephrology
Kidney disease is a condition wherein your kidneys lose their capability to filter waste and excess fluids from the blood. When you suffer from a kidney condition, it means your kidney functions are impaired. It becomes chronic because kidney functions gradually worsen and lead to kidney failure or end-stage kidney disease.
Nephrology is the field of medicine, which focuses on diagnosing, treating, and managing kidney disorders.
To know more, you can consult a nephrologist near you or visit a kidney disease hospital in Kanpur.
What Are the Different Stages of Kidney Disease?
The five stages of kidney disease vary from very mild to kidney failure.
- Stage I: Symptoms of mild kidney problems
- Stage II: Kidneys are functioning well, but the symptoms increase
- Stage III: Issues in kidney functions and the symptoms are more evident
- Stage IV: Kidney damage aggravates and results in severe hindrance in their functioning
- Stage V: Kidneys have failed or are close to failure
What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease?
Usually, you do not experience any noticeable symptoms in the initial stages of a kidney disease. With your kidney condition worsening, the following symptoms may appear:
- Frequency of urination increases
- Low or loss of appetite
- Fatigue and weakness
- Swollen hands, feet, and ankles
- Breathing difficulties
- Puffy eyes
- Sleeping trouble
- Blood in your urine
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dry and itchy skin
- Inability to concentrate
- Numbness
- High blood pressure
- Muscle cramps
- Darkening of the skin
What Causes Kidney Disease?
Apart from high blood pressure and diabetes, other causes obstructing the smooth functioning of your kidneys include:
- Polycystic kidney disease: It is a genetic condition in which fluid-filled cysts develop in your kidneys.
- Membranous nephropathy: Your immune system attacks the waste-filtering membranes of the kidneys.
- Hypertensive nephrosclerosis: Kidney damage resulting from chronic and poorly controlled high blood pressure
- Pyelonephritis: Recurring kidney infection.
- Glomerulonephritis: It damages the glomeruli, the filtering units in your kidneys.
- Vesicoureteral reflux: In this condition, urine flows backward to your kidneys.
- Diabetic neuropathy: Escalated blood glucose levels can lead to severe kidney damage.
When Do You Need to See a Doctor?
Kidney diseases can damage your kidneys quickly or it may take months or even years. Also, until there is irreversible damage, your kidneys can compensate for the loss of function, making it trickier.
So, if you notice any signs of kidney disease or suffer from a health condition, which escalates the risk, consult a kidney specialist without any delay.
Request an appointment at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Call 18605002244 to book an appointment.
How Do Doctors Diagnose Kidney Disease?
For diagnosing kidney disease, nephrologists perform a thorough evaluation of your medical history and the following:
- Blood test for GFR and creatinine:
- To check your kidney’s glomerular filtration rate, which shows how well your kidneys are filtering blood
- To check the creatinine level, which tells you how effectively your kidneys are filtering blood. High creatinine levels indicate severe kidney damage.
- Urine test for albumin: If your kidney is damaged, it may fail to stop albumin from passing into the urine resulting in an elevated albumin level. Urine tests can determine this level and other abnormalities.
- Imaging tests: Your doctor may need these tests to evaluate your kidney’s size and structure.
- Kidney tissue for testing: Your doctor administers local anesthesia and inserts a thin needle through your skin into your kidney to take a sample of kidney tissue.
What Are the Treatment Options in Nephrology for Kidney Disease?
There are no definitive treatment methods available to treat kidney disease. However, medications and other factors can help in preserving kidney functions for a long time.
Nephrologists suggest the following ways to manage kidney disease:
- Medications
- Dietary changes
- Avoiding painkillers; take only those prescribed by your physician
- If you have anemia, get treatment
- Keep diabetes and blood pressure under control
- Daily exercise
- A regular visit to a nephrologist
If your diagnosis is late, the disease has deteriorated and your kidneys are beyond repair, nephrologists recommend:
- Dialysis: When your kidneys fail to filter wastes, doctors use a machine to perform this function.
- Kidney transplantation: In this procedure, nephrologists replace your failing or failed kidney with a healthy kidney retrieved from a living or deceased donor. Living kidney transplantation is possible because a person can survive well with one kidney.
How Can You Prevent Kidney Disease?
Nephrologists recommend regular testing. Other ways to keep kidney disease at bay include:
- Prevent or manage health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Follow a balanced diet, which includes vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.
- Include regular exercise in your routine.
- Limit your alcohol intake.
- Quit smoking.
- Get sufficient sleep.
- Indulge in stress-reducing activities.
Conclusion
Timely diagnosis and early detection are the key to slowing the progression of kidney disease. You must follow the instructions of your nephrologist, take medicines, maintain a healthy diet, and monitor your blood pressure and blood sugar.
You are more vulnerable to kidney disease if you are above 60 years. Other risk factors are:
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Cardiac problems
- Abnormal kidney structure
- History of kidney disorders in the family
- Taking painkillers for a long time
According to nephrologists, if your kidneys are not working, it can lead to complications like:
- Higher risk of cardiac arrest and stroke
- Brittle bones
- Fertility problems
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hyperkalaemia or high potassium can affect your heart
- Unwanted accumulation of fluid leading to swelling in feet and hands
- Low immunity
- Gout
- Hyperphosphatemia or high phosphorus
- Metabolic acidosis, in which there is a chemical imbalance in your blood
Inform your doctor about all the medications you are taking. Do not take any high-dose painkillers without consultation.