Daily Health Care and Medical Tips

Nephritis, or inflammation of the kidney, is one of the most frequent renal diseases. Its main features are the presence in the urine, microscopic examination of albumin (which is called albuminuria), erythrocytes and leukocytes, and hyaline or granular. Is much more common in childhood and adolescence than in adulthood.

The most common form of nephritis is glomerulonephritis, which is often between three and six weeks after a strep infection because the immune mechanism (antibodies against specific proteins streptococcal glomerular damage). The patient has chills, fever, headache, back pain, swelling or edema of the face, especially around the eyes, nausea and vomiting. The urine may be scanty and cloudy. The prognosis is usually good and most patients recover without sequelae, although in some cases evolve into chronic nephritis. In this type of nephritis, kidney damage progresses over the years in which the patient is asymptomatic. However, in the end there uremia (blood urea) and renal failure. There is another group of glomerulonephritis of unknown cause, possibly autoimmune, which have poor prognoses and evolve more rapidly to kidney failure.

Another common condition is called nephrotic syndrome, in which they lose large amounts of albumin in the urine due to increased renal permeability, generalized edema, increased cholesterol in the blood and urine flow almost normal.

Hydronephrosis is the result of blockage of urine flow in the excretory tract, which is almost always a result of congenital anomalies of the ureters or prostatic hypertrophy. Nephrosclerosis, or hardening of small arteries supplying the kidney, is a disorder characterized by the presence of albumin, casts, and sometimes red blood cells or leukocytes in urine (hematuria and pyuria). Usually accompanied by hypertensive vascular disease. The fundamental lesion is sclerosis of small arteries of the kidney with secondary atrophy of the glomeruli and pathological changes in the interstitial tissue.

Kidney stones may form in this or in the renal pelvis by deposits of crystals in the urine. Most of them are calcium oxalate crystals. The infection or blockage, can play an important role in its formation. Sometimes occur when the level of calcium in the blood rises abnormally, as in disorders of the parathyroid glands. In other cases occur when the level of uric acid in the blood is too high (see Gout), usually due to poor diet and excessive consumption of alcohol. Excessive intake of calcium and oxalate in the diet, along with a low intake of fluids, can cause vascular calculations. However, in most cases the cause is unknown. Stones can cause bleeding, secondary infection or obstruction. When it is small, they tend to move down the ureter into the bladder associated with severe pain. Colicky pain caused by stones requires treatment with strong analgesics or spasmolytic, and may appear suddenly after muscular exercise. Once the calculation reaches the bladder, may be expelled through urine inadvertently, the pain disappeared. If the stone is too large to be expelled, it is necessary to resort to surgery or lithotripsy, a procedure that uses shock waves generated by a device located outside the body to break down the calculations.

Is uremia poisoning caused by the accumulation in the blood of waste products usually excreted by the kidney. Appears in the final stages of chronic kidney disease and is characterized by drowsiness, headache (headache), nausea, insomnia, spasms, convulsions and coma. The outlook is negative, however, the development of regular dialysis techniques in the 1980, which aims to remove blood waste products and toxins, and the spread of kidney transplants have led to significant progress for these patients.

Pyelonephritis is a bacterial infection of the kidney. The acute form is accompanied by fever, chills, pain in the affected side, frequent urination and burning during urination. Chronic pyelonephritis is a long-standing disease, progressive, usually asymptomatic (without symptoms) and can lead to destruction of kidney and uremia. Pyelonephritis is more common in diabetics and more in women than in men.

Wilms’ tumor, a highly malignant renal tumor is more common in young children. Recent advances in treatment have achieved the cure of many children with this disease. In lupus erythematosus, which affects mostly women in the fourth decade of life, the body produces antibodies that damage the kidney.