Your kidneys play a crucial role in maintaining your body's health and balance. They do it by filtering waste/ toxins and excess fluid from the blood and flushing them out through urine. They also help regulate blood pressure and maintain the electrolyte balance in the body. Kidneys also support hormone production in your body. When there is a kidney condition, these functions a become severely impaired, and they may ultimately stop if not addressed by a medical professional. The waste/toxins will begin to accumulate and affect overall health, resulting in chronic kidney disease. In this condition, the kidney function will be declined persistently for more than three months with a silent progression.
You may not have any signs or symptoms in the early stages of chronic kidney disease, and you won't have a clue, but your doctor can detect a kidney condition through proper blood and urine tests. The tests analyse high levels of toxins or waste in your blood or urine. Protein levels in urine remain high, and eGFR (indicating filtration rate) remains low in kidney conditions. This allows the doctor to identify the problems early and intervene at the right time, before any serious complications develop.
Before understanding how chronic kidney disease is managed or prevented, it is crucial to recognise its symptoms and causes, as well as preventive measures.
Symptoms Of Chronic Kidney Disease
Understanding the symptoms of chronic kidney disease is very important because early detection can slow down the kidneys from getting into the advanced stage that causes severe complications.
As mentioned earlier, a chronic kidney disease will not necessarily display any symptoms until it gets worse. When the condition advances to the severe stage, an individual will show some sure symptoms, which are:
● Loss of appetite
● Nausea
● Fatigue
● Vomiting
● Sleep issues
● Weakened mental health
● High and unmanageable blood pressure levels
● Breathing difficulties as fluid tends to build up in the lungs
What Causes Chronic Kidney Disease?
The chronic condition of your kidneys develops due to one or more of the following causes.
● Diabetes - Persistent high levels in your blood sugar can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys over time, resulting in a reduced ability to filter waste efficiently. Diabetes is considered one of the major causes of kidney disease.
● Infections - Persistent or repeated urinary tract infections and infections in the kidney, which might not have been treated, can injure the kidney’s tissues.
● Autoimmune Disorders - Certain autoimmune conditions, such as lupus, can cause your immune system to attack healthy kidney cells mistakenly. This leads to chronic inflammation and severe damage to your kidneys.
● Toxins - Exposure to certain heavy metals, medications, or chemicals can interfere severely with kidney function.
● Hypertension - High blood pressure levels can place a strain on your kidneys’ blood vessels, making it harder for them to filter blood and causing severe damage.
● Heart Disease - Having a heart condition can limit blood flow to the kidneys, and it reduces the kidneys’ ability to do their tasks.
● Obesity - Excess body weight can contribute to other conditions like diabetes and hypertension, contributing to kidney disease.
● Family History of Kidney Disease - If there is a past history of kidney conditions in the family, there is a high chance that the preceding generations also have the possibility.
● Changes in Kidney Shape/Size - deformities in kidney shape or size, like in conditions of polycystic kidneys, can affect the normal functioning of the kidneys.
Stages of Kidney Disease
Kidney disease occurs in stages in which the kidneys struggle to take care of the body’s internal balance. As waste products start to accumulate, many other functions are at risk because the kidneys are unable to filter them. Let us understand the stages in detail.
We need to understand that each stage of kidney disease is diagnosed with a change in your blood’s glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). It is the eGFR levels that determine how much blood is filtered per minute. Low eGFR levels indicate that the kidneys are not functioning properly. When eGFR levels are less than 15, it indicates the end stage of kidney function, which worsens the patient's prognosis.
Stages of Kidney Disease eGFR, ml/min Kidney Functioning
Stage 1 90 o above Kidney function is good/normal
Stage 2 60-89 Slightly reduced kidney function.
Stage 3a 45-59 Mild to moderate loss in kidney function.
Stage 3b 30-44 Moderate to severe failure in kidney function.
Stage 4 15-29 Severe loss of kidney functioning.
Stage 5 Less than 15 The kidney fails to function.
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Though regular health checkups help identify problems with your kidney function, you must see a doctor if you already have lifestyle conditions like hypertension, diabetes, or anything similar.
Your doctor might want to assess your kidney health by checking for protein in your urine or by other blood tests. It is necessary to see your doctor every 6-12 months to get these tests done and allow them to advise. If any dysfunction gets identified, you will be directed to a nephrologist who specialises in kidney diseases.
What Are the Complications of Having Chronic Kidney Disease?
Chronic kidney disease comes with several life-threatening complications if not found out early or if not maintained well after getting diagnosed.
The complications are usually:
Acidosis - This is a concern where your kidneys get an acid buildup, affecting their ability to neutralise acids. This would lead to bone health issues and an inability to break down proteins
High Blood Pressure - Due to kidney dysfunction, extra salt or water isn't flushed out, which causes blood pressure to rise. This would lead to more kidney damage and vice versa, forming a loop. Ultimately, the kidney stops functioning, causing life threatening risk.
Fluid Retention - Pulmonary oedema (fluid retention in the lungs) and swelling in the legs are common with kidney disease, along with high blood pressure. This happens mostly in the severe dysfunction of the kidneys, and the body might put on extra weight all of a sudden.
High Potassium Levels - When there is a chronic kidney disease, your kidneys won't be able to regulate the balance in the blood’s potassium levels, which will ultimately lead to heart damage.
Anaemia - When there are no healthy blood cells to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues because of the failure of the kidneys to regulate them, you get anaemia.
Weak bones - With kidney acid buildup, bones are affected, making them fragile. This can increase the risk of frequent bone fractures.
Sexual Health Issues - Lower sex drive or erectile dysfunction are common in people with dysfunctional kidneys.
Heart Disease - Advanced kidney disease can cause arteries to become stiff or clogged, raising blood pressure and leading to heart disease or even a heart attack.
Central Nervous System Damage - Cognitive dysfunctions and personality changes may be seen in advanced stages of kidney disease.
Pericarditis - A condition in which the sac-like membrane covering the heart becomes inflamed, often during severe kidney dysfunction or when the kidney almost fails.
Complications in Pregnancy - Kidney diseases put both the mother and baby at high risk, as normal functioning won't be available for the mother's body. This directly affects the baby's life as well.
Immune System Malfunctions - Your immune system won't respond properly, leaving you vulnerable to external or internal infections.
All these conditions will advance kidney function into later stages, leading to failure. Hence, taking care of them and timely medical intervention are necessary. Doctors may recommend dialysis or a kidney transplant depending on the severity of the case.
Having said that, you can still take steps a promote kidney health, and these measures may also help prevent kidney disease.
How Can I Prevent Kidney Disease?
Some of the important measures you can take to prevent kidney conditions are:
Avoid Smoking - Smoking cigarettes can damage the kidneys and cause diseases. If you have an existing kidney disease, smoking will only make that condition ever worse. So, you can find ways to quit smoking with the help of the right people, like counsellors, support groups and also through medications.
Keep Your Weight Healthy - To prevent kidney conditions, a proper, nutrient-rich diet is important, helping you avoid obesity and other unhealthy conditions. A diet professional can help you develop a proper plan to maintain your normal weight.
Medicines Come with Instructions - If you are trying to get over-the-counter medications like painkillers, antiallergens, etc., you must follow the instructions given on the package. Taking too many medications or taking them frequently will lead to kidney damage.
Manage Your Medical / Lifestyle Disease Conditions - If you have any existing health concerns, such as diabetes, hypertension, or heart conditions, you must ask your doctor to help you manage them. Any unhealthy conditions, if not managed well, can directly affect kidney functioning, making everything worse altogether.
Maintaining your health condition includes consuming a low-sodium diet (salt-free food), checking blood pressure levels at regular intervals while taking any medicines to lower the same, taking a diabetic friendly diet, etc. These will protect your kidneys from advanced levels of damage.
Care for Chronic Kidney Disease at Aster Medcity, Kochi.
When you get diagnosed with a chronic kidney condition, it often requires continuous medical attention, with regular monitoring of your progress. You also need a customised plan to meet your individual needs. At Aster Medcity, Kochi, you will receive a well-structured kidney care program that focuses on a clear diagnosis, enabling long-term management.
Our nephrology team works closely with related specialists and physicians to ensure that your kidney care aligns seamlessly with your overall health. This helps address related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart conditions, which are major contributors to kidney disease.
You will maintain continuity in your treatment plan and receive timely evaluations using advanced diagnostic tools. This allows our doctors to identify any changes in kidney health. Regular follow-ups help the doctor adjust treatment plans to improve kidney health.
At Aster Medcity, you get clear communication and follow-up plans at the right time to ensure that you understand your kidney conditions and take necessary steps to improve them. When clinical expertise is combined with a personal approach to the patients, it provides a big support to the patients at all stages of kidney disease, whether early or advanced. This helps patients remain stable and improve their quality of life.
