Diagnosis & Treatment (Nephrology)

This sub-category of Diagnosis & Treatment (Nephrology) deals with the different diagnosis methods and treatment options for kidney disease.

• Urine examination, blood examination, and imaging examination are the ways to diagnose kidney disease.
• Urine examination includes test strip methods, protein analysis, urine sediment, and bacteriological examination. Additionally, other examination methods like determination of specific gravity, minerals, and urine sodium can help detect nephrology disease.
• Blood examination plays another crucial role in the diagnosis & treatment of nephrological disease. It includes Creatinine, cystatin C, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urea, phosphate, calcium and parathormone, erythrocytes, hemoglobin, iron metabolism, blood gas analysis, immunological parameters, etc.
• The different types of diagnostic imaging tools for kidney disease are sonography (ultrasound), computed tomography scan (CT scan), magnetic resonance tomography (MRT), digital subtraction angiography (DSA), kidney perfusion scintigraphy, and kidney biopsy.
• Tools for diagnostic imaging can help confirm conditions that a doctor might have suspected by revealing what is going on inside the body with certainty. To properly diagnose and treat you, your doctor may order any number of examinations if he recommends imaging.
• Usually, treatment decision is made based on symptoms, other health issues, remaining kidney function, and nutritional health.
• Medicines may help treat and manage acute and chronic kidney diseases.
• Kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a condition (GFR <15 ml/min) in which the kidneys cannot function properly.
• Kidney transplantation and dialysis (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis) are two treatment options for ESRD.
• Hemodialysis is the most used treatment option to remove waste and extra fluid from the blood using soft tubes, an artificial kidney (dialyzer), and a machine.
• Treatment for kidney failure called peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of your stomach, or belly, to filter blood inside the body.
• A kidney transplant is an operational procedure in which a healthy kidney from a deceased or living donor is transplanted into a patient whose kidneys function no longer properly.