What is a glomerulus? A glomerulus is a tiny filter in the kidney. There are a million in each kidney. In other words, the kidney is not one big filter, it is a million tiny ones. So. What is a glomerulus? It is a ball shape structure. Inside it, there is a scrunched up ball […]
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What should your GFR be at 70 years old? It may be 70-75 ml/min (+/- 10 ml/min) or less. This compares to the ‘normal’ level of 90-120 ml/min, according to the CKD/GFR classification. But that is a (scientific-ish) estimated average number for people of any age, gender and race. Therefore, not surprisingly, studies show approximately
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What is normal GFR? This is an article for those of you who want to know more about normal human GFR (glomerular filtration rate). It is a very controversial area [“Oh no, not another one” CKDEx Ed]. Normal eGFR number is 90-120 ml/min (in adults; according to the CKD/GFR classification – the higher the
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Alport Syndrome Alport Syndrome is a rare inherited disease that can cause kidney failure, deafness and eye abnormalities (Alport UK). It can lead to the need for dialysis, and/or a kidney transplant, when people are in their 20s and 30s. The average age of commencing dialysis in X-linked Alports syndrome is about 35 years. Even
Does vitamin D benefit CKD patients? Vitamin D is widely used to treat renal bone disease in chronic kidney disease. In a recent study, Yeung et al, (2023) evaluated the effects of vitamin D therapy on mortality, cardiovascular, bone, and kidney outcomes in patients with CKD. Vitamin D had a central role in bone metabolism
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What is rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis? Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) is one of the 7 types of chronic glomerulonephritis (GN). They are all ‘autoimmune diseases’ where the immune (defence) system attacks normal tissue in the kidney (including the glomeruli). Why and how they occur is unclear. RPGN is not caused by a single disease. It has
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What is post-infectious glomerulonephritis? Post-infectious glomerulonephritis (PIGN) is one of the 7 types of chronic glomerulonephritis (GN). They are all ‘autoimmune diseases’ where the immune (defence) system attacks normal tissue in the kidney (including the glomeruli). Why and how they occur is unclear. So. What is post-infectious glomerulonephritis? PIGN normally develops rapidly, and (classically) follows
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What is mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis? Mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis (MCGN) is one of the 7 types of chronic glomerulonephritis (GN) but one of the least common types. They are all ‘autoimmune diseases’ where the immune (defence) system attacks normal tissue in the kidney (including the glomerulus). Why and how they occur is unclear. MCGN is also known as
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Does chronic kidney disease usually get worse? The short answer is .. yes, sometimes. If can also stabilise. It does not often get better But we don’t really know why. It is true that CKD tends to get progressively worse. The outlook is very variable though. Many patients with mild-moderate CKD (CKD1-3A) stabilise (especially with
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What is membranous nephropathy (MN)? Membranous nephropathy (MN) is one of the 7 types of chronic glomerulonephritis (GN). They are all ‘autoimmune diseases’ where the immune (defence) system attacks normal tissue in the kidney (including the glomerulus). Why and how they occur is unclear. MN is called membranous nephropathy as immune complexes (antigen–antibody combination) are
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