Glomerular Disease
What are glomerular diseases?
Glomerular disease affects the kidneys' filtering units (the glomeruli). The glomeruli are tiny blood vessels that filter and remove waste from the blood. However, when the glomeruli no longer function, we refer to this as glomeruli disease.
Many conditions are responsible for damaging the glomeruli, such as the following:
- Glomerulonephritis arises due to inflammation of the glomeruli. This medical condition occurs when the immune system attacks healthy tissue. A typical sign of glomerulonephritis is when your urine appears darker than normal, meaning blood is present in the urine. In addition, frothy urine means the urine contains a large quantity of protein.
- Glomerulosclerosis develops when the glomeruli begin to harden. When the glomeruli become damaged, large quantities of protein leak into the urine, which is a condition known as proteinuria.
What are the common symptoms of glomerular diseases?
With glomerulonephritis, regions of the body can be affected by skin rashes, abdominal pain, joint pain, fever, trouble breathing, a change in the colour of your skin or eyeballs (jaundice), lethargy and reduced frequency in urination.
Glomerulosclerosis causes the following symptoms:
- Swelling in parts of the body (hands, legs, feet and abdomen) due to fluid retention
- Foamy urine due to excessive amounts of protein in the urine
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol levels
How do you treat glomerular diseases?
Multiple treatments for early-stage glomerular disease exist. For example, conservative measures such as exercise, diet, medication for blood pressure and the management of high blood pressure are available.
Alternative available treatments include immunosuppressant medication (corticosteroids and cytotoxic medicines) for an overactive, out-of-control immune system. Your doctor may also prescribe water pills (diuretics) to reduce swelling in your feet and ankles.
Unfortunately, glomerular disease may be chronic, meaning waste continues to build up in the blood. If left untreated, the condition may progress to kidney failure, in which case Dr Mhlana will need to develop a long-term treatment plan.
