Early Signs of Kidney Disease Often Ignored

Most common way of diagnosing kidney disease is testing the urine for proteins. Proteinuria is a condition where high amounts of protein found in the urine, this could mean kidney disease and lead to heart disease. High levels of protein could be the use of over the counter medicines such as non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NAIDs), pain relievers. 300 patients that were admitted to a hospital in New York and Chicago were tested for proteinuria. 40% of them had it and only 37% of the 40 were treated for it. Most of the ones that had proteinuria reported that they have been using NAIDs. It is known that several medications can slow the progression of kidney disease and treat proteinuria such as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB). Researchers are finding that above 60% of patients that have proteinuria are not taking these drugs so that it can slow the progression of kidney disease in patients that are already prone to having it. A screening is suggested for the elderly and those that have high blood pressure, diabetes or a family history of kidney disease.

TD

Article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_145837.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Are All Sugars Created Equal?

Milk Mythbusters