There are many causes of kidney disease, which represents a growing health-care problem in Canada. The two main causes of kidney disease in Canada are diabetes and high blood pressure.
Other common causes include:
- vascular disease which is a hardening of the arteries
- glomerulonephritis, the inflammation of the kidney filtering units
- polycystic kidney disease (cysts in the kidney)
- drug-induced kidney failure
- pyelonephritis which is an infection in the kidney
- blockage of the flow of urine , also called a urinary tract obstruction
- other rare genetic diseases
Stages of Kidney Disease
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 (end stage) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kidney Function |
>90% | 60-89% | 30-59% | 15-30% | <15% |
Symptoms | none | none | Fatigue Poor appetite Mild anemia |
Increased fatigue Nausea Anemia Itchy skin |
Poor sleep Shortness of breath Vomiting Itchy skin Leg cramps |
Treatment | Identify cause, try to reverse it or minimize kidney damage | Monitor creatinine, blood pressure, blood sugar | Teach patient about disease and treatment options | Plan & create access for dialysis &/or start workup for transplant | Start renal replacement therapy-dialysis transplantation |
Kidney Failure is when the kidney can no longer filter blood properly, and toxic waste products and fluid build up in the blood.
Last updated on: January 20th, 2017