Chronic Kidney Disease : Know the facts.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition characterized by a gradual loss of kidney function over time.
What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) ?
Chronic kidney disease includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy. If kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop complications like
- high blood pressure
- anemia (low blood count)
- weak bones
- poor nutritional health
- nerve damage.
Also, kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time. Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders.
Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life.
Some facts about Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
- Early detection can help prevent the progression of kidney disease to kidney failure.
- Heart disease is the major cause of death for all people with CKD.
- Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best estimate of kidney function.
- Hypertension causes CKD and CKD causes hypertension.
- Persistent proteinuria (protein in the urine) means CKD is present.
- High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension and family history of kidney failure.
What causes Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
The two main causes of chronic kidney disease are
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
Diabetes happens when your blood sugar is too high, causing damage to many organs in your body, including the kidneys and heart, as well as blood vessels, nerves and eyes.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when the pressure of your blood against the walls of your blood vessels increases. If uncontrolled, or poorly controlled, high blood pressure can be a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and chronic kidney disease. Also, chronic kidney disease can cause high blood pressure.
Other conditions that affect the kidneys are:
- Glomerulonephritis , a group of diseases that cause inflammation and damage to the kidney's filtering units. These disorders are the third most common type of kidney disease.
- Inherited diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease, which causes large cysts to form in the kidneys and damage the surrounding tissue.
- Malformations that occur as a baby develops in its mother's womb. For example, a narrowing may occur that prevents normal outflow of urine and causes urine to flow back up to the kidney. This causes infections and may damage the kidneys.
- Lupus and other diseases that affect the body's immune system.
- Obstructions caused by problems like kidney stones, tumors or an enlarged prostate gland in men.
- Repeated urinary infections.
What are the symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
Most people may not have any severe symptoms until their kidney disease is advanced. However, you may notice that you:
- tired and have less energy
- trouble concentrating
- poor appetite
- trouble sleeping
- muscle cramping at night
- swollen feet and ankles
- puffiness around your eyes, especially in the morning
- dry, itchy skin
- need to urinate more often, especially at night.
Anyone can get chronic kidney disease at any age. However, some people are more likely than others to develop kidney disease. You may have an increased risk for kidney disease if you:
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
- a family history of kidney failure
- old age
If you have any of the above symptoms, consult.
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