Kidney disease - CKD

The tricky thing about diseases of the kidneys and urogenital tract is that they can go on for a long time without typical discomfort. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is usually a long and creeping process in which the kidneys gradually lose their functioning. Renal Insufficiency or Renal failures are virtually the final stage of various primary and secondary kidney diseases and can only be treated by kidney replacement therapy such as dialysis and kidney transplantation.

Symptoms

• Sick increase in the amount of urine – Polyuria
• Quantity of severely reduced urinary excretion – oliguria
• Difficult, disturbed bladder emptying – Dysuria
• Painful urination, urinary compulsion – Stranguria
• Frequent urge to urinate – Pollakisuria
• swelling (edema), for example on the legs or face
• Pain in the kidney area
• Haematuria
• breathlessness
• Fatigue, lack of drive, weakness
• loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting
• Concentration disorders, confusion, impaired consciousness and even unconsciousness

There are diseases and risk factors that are very correlated with kidney disease.

The distribution of kidney disease is something like this:

• Diabetes Type I (23%) and Type II (4%)
• Glomerulonephritis (20%)
• Vascular nephropathy (15%)
• Interstitial nephritis (13%)
• Unknown Genesis (10%)
• cystic kidneys (7%)
• Systemic diseases (3%)
• Miscellaneous (5%)

Risk factors:

• High blood pressure – hypertension
• Diabetes mellitus
• to smoke
• Genetic defect
• Gout – Hyperuricemia
• Occurrence of concrements (urinary stones) in the urinary tract – Urolithiasis
• Prostatic hypertrophy
• chronic use of potentially nephrotoxic drugs (e.g. gentamycin)

Urine diagnostics

Most kidney diseases are related to proteinuria. However, in rare cases this also occurs in kidney healthy and in extrarenal diseases. Proteinuria is neither evidence of a kidney disease nor does it rule out one. The detection of protein therefore requires further investigation. For early detection and localization of incipient kidney damage, the measurement of albumin in the urine and the differentiation of urine proteins has proven to be particularly relevant diagnostically.

Therapy

• Control of elevated blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• Healthy diet/low protein diet/low-salt diet
• Weight loss
• No smoking
• Avoidance of certain pain medications

Did you know

• The kidneys remove excess water and waste from the body 24 hours a day
• Healthy kidneys cleanse the blood about 300 times a day