Your kidneys filter your blood and remove excess fluid and toxins through urination. Nephrotic syndrome prevents your kidneys from functioning properly and can result in short- and long-term health complications.
What is Nephrotic Syndrome?
It’s a condition that affects the blood vessels, or glomeruli, in your kidneys. The glomeruli filter unwanted waste, toxins and extra fluid from your blood before circulating it back through your body. The blood vessels also prevent necessary protein and nutrients from passing through urination.
Nephrotic syndrome causes inflammation that scars or damages the glomeruli. That malfunction allows too much protein to pass into your urine during filtration.
Causes of Nephrotic Syndrome
This syndrome often develops in tandem with other health conditions that inflame kidney tissues and blood vessels.
The following conditions can cause nephrotic syndrome:
- Diabetic kidney disease: Kidney damage resulting from unregulated diabetes.
- Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: Scarring of the glomeruli from a genetic defect, medication or unknown cause.
- Membranous nephropathy: Thickening of glomeruli membranes.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus: Chronic inflammation that damages the kidneys.
- Minimal change disease: Abnormal kidney function that doesn’t present in tissues upon examination.
- Amyloidosis: Buildup of amyloid proteins in the kidneys.
Infections including HIV, Hepatitis B and C and malaria increase your risk of developing nephrotic syndrome. Certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications can also negatively affect glomeruli.
Nephrotic Syndrome Symptoms
- Severe swelling in the eyes, hands, ankles and feet
- Foamy urine, caused by excess amounts of protein
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- High blood pressure
- Fever
- Weight gain from fluid retention
- Blood clots
- High white blood cell count
Complications of Nephrotic Syndrome
Blood clots: Because nephrotic syndrome prevents proper blood filtration, your body loses necessary proteins that help prevent blood clots.
High cholesterol: Albumin is a protein that prevents fluids from leaking out of blood vessels into other tissues. Your liver will produce more if albumin drops too low, increasing cholesterol and triglycerides production.
High blood pressure: Nephrotic syndrome causes your body to hold excessive fluid and raises your blood pressure.
Malnutrition: This is another negative side effect of losing too much protein in your urine. Malnutrition can be hidden by weight gain brought on by fluid retention.
Chronic kidney disease: Prolonged damage to the glomeruli can result in loss of kidney function, which may require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Acute kidney injury: Improper filtration in the kidneys leads to waste buildup that could result in acute kidney disease or injury. That condition usually requires emergency dialysis to remove blood toxins.
How is Nephrotic Syndrome Diagnosed and Treated?
Your doctor will need blood and urine samples to check protein levels. Healthy kidneys allow less than one gram of protein in the urine, but nephrotic syndrome often presents more than three grams of protein over 24 hours. A kidney tissue biopsy may be necessary to evaluate glomeruli health.
Nephrotic syndrome symptoms and complications are manageable with ACE inhibitors, diuretics, anticoagulants, antiviral drugs, cholesterol medication and immunosuppressant drugs.
Reducing your fat, sodium and cholesterol intake is important. While you need to maintain your fluid levels, avoid excessive fluid intake to ease swelling. Lean and plant-based proteins are essential dietary components.
Embassy Healthcare offers comprehensive dialysis treatment through our Empower Renal program. Call 216-378-2050 or contact us online to learn more.
