What is Glomerulonephritis?

Your kidneys are among the busiest organs in your body, and their roles are critical for optimal functioning of the body. Because of their nature of work, kidneys are prone to injury, disease, and other problems. One such kidney complication is glomerulonephritis (GN).

What is glomerulonephritis? It’s an inflammation of the glomeruli, or the filters in your kidney. This post explores the basics of glomerulonephritis to help you, or a loved one, get the best treatment.

Critical Role of the Glomerulus

To understand the devastating impact of glomerulonephritis, an analysis of the glomerulus is imperative. The glomerulus is a collection of blood vessels located at the beginning of a nephron in your kidney. These capillaries act as tiny filters that remove excess electrolytes, fluid, and waste from your blood. The waste is passed into the urine.

How Glomerulonephritis Develops

The inflammation of the glomeruli affects the capacity of the kidneys to get rid of wastes and extra fluid in the body. When untreated, glomerulonephritis can cause extensive kidney damage and failure. The kidney disorder can develop suddenly (acute) or gradually (chronic).

Other complications associated with GN include acute kidney failure, chronic kidney disease, chronic urinary tract infections, electrolyte imbalances, high blood pressure, and increased risk of infections.

Symptoms of Glomerulonephritis

Symptoms of acute and chronic glomerulonephritis include:

• Bubbly/foamy urine caused by excess protein.
• Fluid retention (edema) on face, hands, legs, or abdomen.
• Hematuria or pink-colored urine from red blood cells in your urine.
• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• Blood in your urine (or brown urine).

Advanced glomerulonephritis increases the risk of kidney failure. Symptoms of kidney failure include tiredness, lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting, difficulty sleeping, nighttime muscle cramps, and frequent nosebleeds.

Causes of Glomerulonephritis

Glomerulonephritis can occur alone, or arise from complications of lupus, Goodpasture’s syndrome, Wegener’s disease, and polyarteritis nodosa diabetes or other diseases affecting your kidneys.

With an early diagnosis at a well-equipped facility such as Texas Kidney Institute, it’s possible to prevent kidney failure. Sometimes chronic glomerulonephritis runs in the family, but it can also be from an unknown cause.

Diagnosis and Treatment

At a kidney clinic, your doctor first assesses your medical history, performs a physical examination and checks for obvious symptoms, and requests a urinary test. This test checks for urine concentration, total protein content, urine red blood, urine osmolality, and creatinine clearance.

The doctor can also request an immunology test. Sometimes, a kidney biopsy is necessary and involves analysis of a sample of your kidney tissue. Imaging tests such as a CT scan, kidney ultrasound, and x-ray all come in handy to evaluate the health of your kidney.

After a glomerulonephritis diagnosis, treatment starts immediately. Treatment options may include:

• Blood pressure medications.
• Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).
• Antibiotics in case of strep infection.
• Corticosteroids to reduce the immune response.
• Plasmapheresis to remove plasma and replace it with a fluid with no antibodies.
• Temporary dialysis in the case of acute glomerulonephritis.

At Texas Kidney Institute, you get a comprehensive range of treatments for all kidney complications. With the critical functions performed by your kidney, you can’t afford to delay diagnosis so you can receive prompt treatment. If you’ve been experiencing symptoms of glomerulonephritis or are in need of a nephrologist to treat your glomerulonephritis, call us today at (214) 234-2459 or schedule an appointment here to see a specialist.