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High blood pressure is almost always present at the time of diagnosing Chronic Kidney Disease. And as time passes during your CKD journey, controlling your blood pressure becomes an essential part of your treatment plan to delay kidney failure.
That, and the basics that you must understand about high blood pressure in CKD is what today’s storytelling is about.
High blood pressure is almost always present at the time of diagnosing Chronic Kidney Disease. And as time passes during your CKD journey, controlling your BP becomes an essential part of your treatment plan to delay kidney failure.
For that let us first take you through all the essential facts that you must grasp about the whole concept of Blood Pressure.
Knowing this will help you master your understanding of what goes wrong with your BP regulation systems and to what extent, when CKD hits.
Were you born prematurely before completing “9 months of nurturing” in your mum’s womb? Or did you have a Low Birth Weight despite being a “Term baby”?
In that case, you may want to consider getting a medical opinion about your chances of developing high blood pressure, cardiovascular (heart) disease and kidney disease later in life.
Wonder why?
Read on to understand.
Our previous article in the “Protein in Urine” series explained, what Proteinuria is, how it may occur & the kidney conditions commonly associated with it.
This article follows-up to inform how your medical team diagnoses Proteinuria in the clinic & relevant treatment approaches that may be undertaken.
The leakage of Plasma Protein in urine is technically termed as “Proteinuria” (pronounced as pro-teen-you-reah). These proteins are NOT the usual nutrient that you obtain from food. These are a different class of Proteins specially made by your Liver.
Plasma Proteins normally circulate in your bloodstream & help with a range of functions essential to keep you alive. Urine samples with Protein tend to be visibly foamy / frothy akin to the kind that you get after dissolving detergents in water. The extent of foam will certainly vary with the extent of protein leakage.
Normally, Urine produced by healthy kidneys is a cocktail of toxic waste products of cellular metabolism, a host of minerals, salts, smelly organic compounds & excess water. (Find the complete normal urine composition here). These components begin to get together to form Urine once healthy kidney micro-filters “strain” our blood through themselves. These micro-filters are uber-selective with what they “let-out” into the urine. This is such that, all blood cells & “plasma” proteins remain in the bloodstream while the wastes & excesses purge themselves out.
But what makes these Kidney Micro-filters that selective against leakage of blood cells & protein in urine?
Continue reading “Healthy Kidneys prevent Blood & Protein in Urine. But how?!”
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also called Chronic Renal Disease is defined as the gradual loss of kidney function over at least 3 months to several years “since the time of organ insult by the root disease” (not since symptoms appear).
When kidney function is jeopardized in a gradual but progressive manner, they will be unable to perform any of their designated functions properly, that they otherwise normally carry out to keep you alive and kicking!
CKD is an umbrella term for a multitude of medical conditions that can affect and gradually damage the kidney during their natural course in our body.
Kidneys are essential for your survival. And Kidney Disease is a major cause of sickness & death worldwide. But if diagnosed early on, and necessary treatment procedures are initiated on time, some of these conditions could be reversed to normalcy, while for others, the progression of the condition to frank kidney failure can be effectively delayed. However, early diagnosis & treatment are not always implemented in reality. And some existing Myths around Kidney Disease have a significant role in hampering this process.
It is imperative, that you pro-actively educate yourself on this front to combat any ignorance, apprehension or confusion on this topic and choose a better quality of life for yourself, today and tomorrow!
So, here’s busting the commonest Myths around Kidney Disease with established facts. Read on to empower yourself!
