Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a hereditary disease and accounts up to
5~10% of the total population with End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF). According to
the disease progression regularities, PKD can be divided into 5 stags.
Stage 1 of PKD :emergency period
PKD is a genetic disease. Some people are born with cysts growing on their
kidneys. When the cysts are small, the disease is hard to be inspected out. In
most of the cases, the patients do not find the disease before 20 years old.
However, if there is someone having PKD in the family, the other family members
should go for inspection as early as possible to find if they have renal the
disease in the first time and take some preventive measures to delay the cysts
enlargement.
Stage2 of PKD : growth period
Between 30~40 years old, PKD develops into growth period. At this stage, the
cysts enlarge at a very fast speed. In western medicines, there is no an
effective therapy for PKD at this stage. The patients just receive some
treatments focusing on its symptoms like high blood pressure. In fact, the
patients should take active treatment aiming at blocking cysts enlargement and
improving blood circulation so as to improve the life expectancy of the patients
with PKD.
Stage 3 of PKD : enlargement period
After 40 years old, the cysts will enlarge further at a very fast speed. When
the cysts enlarge than 4 cm, PKD develops into enlargement period. With the
enlargement of cysts, the patients will have a series of clinical symptoms like
back pain, proteinuria, hematuria, high blood pressure and so on.
Stage 4 of PKD : rupture period
If the cysts enlarge continuously, they are very likely to rupture. Once the
cysts rupture, the patients should go to see a doctor at once and prevent
infection effectively. Moreover, they should take effective treatment to shrink
the large cysts and prevent the further enlargement of the cysts.
Stage 5 of PKD : uremia period
In this stage, the patients with PKD will have a series of serious symptoms
like anemia, nerve disease, and bone disease and so on. At this stage, the
patients should receive proper treatment to repair the impaired renal functional
cells so as to improve the renal function. In this way, it is possible for them
to avoid dialysis and kidney transplant.
The earlier the patients with receive PKD treatment, the better the prognosis
will be. Therefore, if there is a family history in the family, the family
members should do checks regularly so as to find if they are affected by PKD as
early as possible.