Your doctor can determine your level of kidney function through a simple blood test used to calculate your estimated glomerular filtration rate . Knowing your eGFR is key to understanding your stage of kidney disease and how best to manage your kidney health. More than 37 million American adults are living with kidney disease and most don’t know it.
If you have a transplant, talk with your transplant coordinator if your medicines cause side effects. Treatment for chronic kidney disease focuses on slowing the progression of kidney damage, usually by controlling the cause. But, even controlling the cause might not keep kidney damage from progressing. Chronic kidney disease can progress to end-stage kidney failure, which is fatal without artificial filtering or a kidney transplant.
That’s because both of these substances are removed from your body through your kidneys. Changing how and what you eat won’t reverse acute kidney failure. But your doctor may change your diet while they treat the conditions that caused it. This may mean treating a health problem kidney transplant expert witness like heart failure, taking you off certain medications, or giving you fluids through an IV if you’re dehydrated. If your doctor has put you on a low potassium diet, you’ll need to cut back on high-potassium foods like bananas, spinach, oranges, potatoes, and tomatoes.
On the other hand, you can eat more low-potassium foods like apples, strawberries, grapes, and cauliflower. The term “chronic kidney disease” means lasting damage to the kidneys that can get worse over time. This is called kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease .
Insufficient blood flow to the kidneys can cause acute prerenal kidney failure. The kidneys can’t filter toxins from the blood without enough blood flow. This type of kidney failure can usually be cured once your doctor determines the cause of the decreased blood flow. If you have diseases or conditions that increase your risk of kidney disease, work with your doctor to control them. Ask your doctor about tests to look for signs of kidney damage. Research studies have shown that in many people, treatment at early stages of chronic kidney disease can prevent or slow down progression through to eventual kidney failure.
People with acute kidney failure may be able to recover kidney function. However, chronic kidney failure is irreversible and can only be treated through dialysis or a successful kidney transplant. Someone who has kidney failure likely has already been on a kidney-friendly diet throughout the earlier stages of chronic kidney disease .
Causes of acute kidney failure include low blood pressure, blockage of the urinary tract, certain medications, muscle breakdown, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Causes of chronic kidney failure include diabetes, high blood pressure, nephrotic syndrome, and polycystic kidney disease. Diagnosis of acute failure is often based on a combination of factors such as decreased urine production or increased serum creatinine. Diagnosis of chronic failure is based on a glomerular filtration rate of less than 15 or the need for renal replacement therapy.