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Chronic kidney disease develops when the kidneys permanently lose most of their ability to remove waste and maintain fluid and chemical balances in the body. This process can develop rapidly within 2 to 3 months or slowly, over 30 to 40 years. The severity of chronic kidney disease depends on how well the kidneys filter wastes from the blood.
In chronic kidney disease, the kidneys have not stopped working altogether but are not working as well as they should. You can live normally with kidneys that are not functioning at 100% or with only one functioning kidney. Dialysis or kidney transplantation is required when kidney function drops to about 15% of normal.
The main causes of Kidney Failure are:
- Diabetes: Causes about 35% of all chronic kidney disease. high blood sugar levels caused by diabetes, damage blood vessels in the kidneys. If the blood sugar level remains high, this damage gradually reduces the function of the kidneys.
- High Blood Pressure: (hypertension) Causes another 30% of all kidney disease. Because blood pressure often rises with chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure may further damage kidney function even when another medical condition initially caused the disease.
- Glomerulonephritis: The 3rd most common cause of chronic kidney disease. Glomerulonephritis is a disease that causes inflammation of the miltering structures inside the kidney, impairing the kidney's ability to remove waste products from the blood. There mayb be no symptoms in the early stages. As kidney damage becomes more serious, symptoms such as blood in the urine and swelling may develop.
- Other Causes:
- Medication use or overuse
- Infection and obstruction to the kidneys.
- Inherited genetic diseases.
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Symptoms:
Decreased urinary output.
Fluid retention and swelling.
Increasing fatigue.
Nausea and vomiting.
Loss of appetite (anorexia).
Changes in mental functioning.
Insomnia or increased sleepiness
Treatment:
The goal of treatment for chronic kidney disease is to prevent or slow additional damage to your kidneys. Since another condition usually causes kidney disease, kidney disease is treated by:
- Treating and managing other diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, that can cause it.
- Preventing diseases or avoiding situations, such as medication use, that can cause kidney damage.
Initial treatment
One of the most effective ways to treat chronic kidney disease is to treat and manage the disease that caused your kidney damage. You and your health professional will develop a plan to aggressively treat and manage your diabetes or high blood pressure to slow additional damage to your kidneys.
Use of medications, such as antibiotics or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
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