National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Do you know if you have a glomerular disease? Learn about a condition that commonly leads to CKD.
Did you know glomerular disease is one of the most common causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD)? Glomerular disease occurs when the kidney’s glomeruli, which form the kidney’s filtering system that allows waste and extra water to pass, are damaged. Learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and causes of glomerular diseases.*
Within each kidney are tiny clusters of looping blood vessels called glomeruli, where blood is filtered. There are approximately one million glomeruli in each kidney.
Glomerular diseases harm the glomeruli and allow protein and sometimes red blood cells to leak into the urine. Sometimes the disease will also affect the clearance of waste products by the kidney, causing those wastes to collect in the blood.
There are multiple symptoms of glomerular disease which also may be the first signs of kidney disease. The symptoms include:
Diagnosing a glomerular disease can include a combination of the following:
Learning the cause of glomerular diseases helps to determine the best treatment. There are a number of known causes that are broken down into different categories, which include:
Depending on the form of glomerular disease, kidney function can deteriorate in a matter of days, weeks, or years. Early diagnosis and proper treatment of your particular type of glomerular disease is key to delaying or preventing progression to kidney failure.
Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
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