Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
This page provides information on commonly asked questions relating to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
About Your Kidneys
Most people have 2 kidneys. Their main job is to filter your blood, removing waste products, which will leave your body in your urine. They have a number of other jobs, such as regulating your body’s salt and water levels, regulating your blood pressure, and helping you to make enough red blood cells
What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
CKD is the medical term for when your kidneys are working less well than they ideally should. The word ‘chronic’ is often misunderstood. In the medical world, the word ‘chronic’ means a long-term condition. It does not mean a condition is severe.
In CKD, the kidneys become less good a removing some of the waste products from your blood. They can also leak protein into the urine.
How is CKD Diagnosed?
CKD is usually found as an incidental finding on a blood test. Most blood test we do include a result called an ‘eGFR’. This is an estimate of how efficiently your kidneys are working. A higher number means they are working better, a lower number means they are working less well.
We diagnose CKD stage 3 if your eGFR is consistently lower then 60ml/min
We usually also check a urine sample for suspected or confirmed cases of CKD.
Who Gets CKD?
CKD is very common. It can affect anyone, but it becomes much more common as we get older. Risk factors for developing CKD include:
- Old Age
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- High Blood pressure
- Smokers
- Long term regular use of some medications, including ibuprofen and naproxen
- A family history of some inherited kidney conditions.
Should I Worry?
Most cases of CKD are not concerning. Early stages of CKD do not normally cause symptoms.
CKD is very common, affecting around 10% of the population. It can slowly worsen over time, but for most people, it will not worsen significantly over their lifetime.
Some cases of CKD can become more serious, however if that is the case you will have been contacted by the surgery to review your case in more detail.
How Is CKD Treated?
Healthy Lifestyle
The main aim of CKD treatment is to try to prevent the problem from significantly worsening over time. General healthy living is recommended for everyone with CKD including
- Eating a balanced diet
- Stop Smoking
- Reduce or stop drinking alcohol
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Keep up to date with routine health screening and vaccinations
- Be careful about what medication you take, particularly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as ibuprofen and naproxen
Medical Treatment
- Monitoring and treating other associated conditions such as raised blood pressure and diabetes as effectively as possible.
- Having a blood test and urine test each year to monitor the CKD
- Government guidelines recommend that everyone with CKD should consider taking medication to reduce their cholesterol (even if your cholesterol level is not raised in the first place).
More severe stages of CKD sometimes need additional treatment, or a referral to a kidney specialist. In very severe cases treatment with kidney dialysis or transplant might be considered You will have been contacted specifically about this if you are in this category.
A Final Note....
We are aware that the term ‘Chronic Kidney Disease’ can sound very worrying and alarming. In the vast majority of cases, it is not a worrying condition. Having said that, we do strongly recommend that everyone with CKD tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle and looks after related health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes as well as possible.
Patients who have more severe CKD will be specifically contacted by us about it.
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