Nephropathy

What is nephropathy?

Nephropathy refers to those diseases and pathologies that affect the kidney. The most common nephropathies are:

• Diabetic nephropathy: this is due to excess blood glucose caused by diabetes.
• Epidemic nephropathy: is a viral infection caused by the Puumala virus.
• Hypertensive nephropathy: caused by excess blood pressure.
• Nephritis: is inflammation of the kidney.
• IgA nephropathy: is the inflammation of the renal glomerulus (functional anatomical unit of the kidney in which the clearance and filtration of blood plasma is carried out).

What are the symptoms of nephropathy?

Normally, at the beginning, nephropathy does not present symptoms and, in fact, they may begin to appear 5-10 years after its onset. Once the nephropathy is more severe and prolonged, symptoms may appear such as:

• Fatigue
• General malaise
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Lack of appetite
• Swelling of legs
• Prone to infections
• Itchy skin

What are the causes of nephropathy?

The main risk factors for nephropathy may be:

• Type 1 diabetes since before age 20
• Uncontrolled blood sugar
• Family history of diabetes or kidney problems
• High blood pressure
• Smoking
• Being of African-American, Mexican-American, or Native American descent

Can kidney disease be prevented?

Since diabetes and high blood pressure are the two main causes of nephropathy, controlling blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as eating a low-protein diet and reducing body weight are recommended to prevent nephropathy.

What is the treatment of nephropathy?

First of all, to delay the progression of the disease and prevent complications, it is necessary to follow the advice explained above. The main treatment is pharmacological, with drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors). In the event that the disease progresses to chronic kidney disease, it is quite likely that dialysis, which consists of removing waste and excess fluid from the blood through the blood vessels around the walls of the abdomen, or even a kidney transplant, will be necessary.