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Showing posts from April, 2015

Nephrotic Syndrome

Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a condition that is often caused by any group of diseases that damage the kidneys' filtering system, the glomeruli. It is a kidney disorder that causes your body to excrete too much protein in the urine. It is more than 3.5gms/day. Causes Nephrotic syndrome is usually caused by damage to the clusters of small blood vessels in your kidneys that filter waste and excess water from your blood. Diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) Amyloidosis (stiffening and subsequent malfunction of the kidney due to fibrous protein deposit in the tissue) Congenital nephrosis Focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) (creates scar tissue in the glomerulus, damaging its protein-repellant membrane) Glomerulonephritis (GN) Diffuse mesangial proliferative GN (affecting the messangium) Membranous (damages the protein-repellant membrane) Postinfectious (occurs after an infection)

Stages of Kidney Failure

With chronic kidney disease , the kidneys don’t usually fail all at once. Instead, kidney disease often progresses slowly over a period of years.  The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) created a guideline to help doctors identify each level of kidney disease. The NKF divided kidney disease into five stages .  Where you are placed into CKD stage 3 or higher, it usually depends on an estimate of kidney function. Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best measure of kidney function . A math formula using the person’s age, race, gender, and serum creatinine is used to calculate a GFR. A doctor will order a blood test to measure the serum creatinine level. As kidney function slows, blood levels of creatinine rise. Even with a normal GFR, you may be at increased risk for developing CKD if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney disease . The risk increases with age: People over 65 a