About Nondiabetic Renal Disease

Renal disease is the gradual loss of kidney function for any number of reasons. Diabetes-caused renal disease is one of the most common types of renal diseases out there. However, there are many other causes of renal disease and they can be just as serious as diabetes.

Kidney Structure and Function

• Your kidneys are vital organs shaped like beans that are located near your lower back. They each have their own renal artery, which brings blood into the kidneys for filtration. Using blood pressure and a network of tiny blood vessels, you kidneys remove waste products from your blood and allow nutrients to stay. Once the blood has filtered, it leaves the kidneys through the renal vein and goes back into circulation. The waste products, which include urea, excess water and excess sugar, mix together to create urine. The ureters, thin tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder, draw urine into the bladder for storage.

Renal Disease and Diabetes

• Renal disease is the gradual loss of function in one or both of your kidneys. It is often symptomless until it has progressed for some time. Diabetes is the buildup of sugar in your blood because of insulin difficulties. Diabetes and renal disease are often linked because too much sugar in your blood forces the kidneys to work harder to filter it from your blood. Over time, it can destroy the small blood vessels in the kidney and lead to renal disease. This is so likely that if you are diagnosed with diabetes, your health care provider almost certainly will do a full workup on your kidneys and continue to monitor them closely for signs of disease.

Nondiabetic Renal Disease

• As much as diabetes and renal disease are linked, there are many other causes of renal disease. One of the most common causes of renal disease is hypertension, or high blood pressure. High blood pressure puts exorbitant amounts of pressure of the walls of the blood vessels including those in the kidneys. This can cause damage to the kidney's essential blood vessels and make filtration less efficient. Another frequent cause of renal disease is kidney infection, which can cause irreversible damage to these delicate organs. There are also many inherited kidney disorders that can cause renal disease, the most prevalent of them being polycystic kidney disease.

Symptoms

• Nondiabetic renal disease is characterized by unusual fluid retention, especially around the eyes and extremities. You also may notice that you start urinating much more frequently or that your urine comes out darker or smellier than usual. Nondiabetic kidney disease also brings on anemia and a buildup of waste in the blood, so you may feel weaker than usual or bruise much more easily.

Treatment

• Once your health care provider diagnoses nondiabetic renal disease, the first step is to get the underlying condition under control. If that is high blood pressure, it means a change in diet, more exercise and perhaps some prescription medication help. If sepsis or infection is an issue, your treatment plan will start with clearing that condition up. Nevertheless, nearly all renal disease cases are not diagnosed until a lot of damage has been done. If you have reached the stage in which your kidneys have lost a lot of functionality, you may be prescribed dialysis and prescription medication to help replace that function. In the worst-case scenarios, you may require a kidney transplant.