Report on Chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease occurs when one suffers from gradual and usually permanent loss of kidney function over time. This happens gradually, usually months to years. Chronic kidney disease is divided into five stages of increasing severity.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss in renal function over a peroid of months or years. The symptoms of worsening kidney function are unspecific, and might include feeling generally unwell and experiencing a reduced appetite.
With loss of kidney function, there is an accumulation of water; waste; and toxic substances, in the body, that are normally excreted by the kidney. Loss of kidney function also causes other problems such as anemia, high blood pressure, acidosis (excessive acidity of body fluids), disorders of cholesterol and fatty acids, and bone disease.
Chronic kidney disease is identified by a blood test for creatinine. Higher levels of creatinine indicate a lower glomerular filtration rate and as a result a decreased capability of the kidneys to excrete waste products. Creatinine levels may be normal in the early stages of CKD, and the condition is discovered if urinalysis (testing of a urine sample) shows that the kidney is allowing the loss of protein or red blood cells into the urine. To fully investigate the underlying cause of kidney damage, various forms of medical imaging, blood tests and often renal biopsy (removing a small sample of kidney tissue) are employed to find out if there is a reversible cause for the kidney malfunction. Recent professional guidelines classify the severity of chronic kidney disease in five stages, with stage 1 being the mildest and usually causing few symptoms and stage 5 being a severe illness with poor life expectancy if untreated. Stage 5 CKD is also called established chronic kidney disease and is synonymous with the now outdated terms end-stage renal disease (ESRD), chronic kidney failure (CKF) or chronic renal failure (CRF).
Unlike chronic kidney disease, acute kidney failure develops rapidly, over days or weeks.
- Acute kidney failure usually develops in response to a disorder that directly affects the kidney, its blood supply, or urine flow from it.
- Acute kidney failure is often reversible, with complete recovery of kidney function.
- Some patients are left with residual damage and can have a progressive decline in kidney function in the future.
- Others may develop irreversible kidney failure after an acute injury and remain dialysis-dependent.