Nephrotic Syndrome:Causes,Symptoms,Complications,Treatment

Nephrotic Syndrome is not a single disease, but a set of symptoms related to kidney dysfunction including massive loss of protein in urine, low blood protein levels, high blood cholesterols and swelling.

Causes of Nephrotic Syndrome
Nephrotic Syndrome is caused by immune abnormality or disorder. Our human body has a powerful immune system to prevent the foreign microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses from invading into body. However, in some cases, the immune system is activated improperly in response to antigens that may not have potential to cause disease. When antibodies encounter and bind to antigens in blood, they form very immune complexes. Afterwards, these immune complexes will flow into kidneys and deposit in the glomeruli. The body will start an inflammatory response to try to remove them. Finally, the inflammation can impair the function of glomeruli. As a result, the permeability of the glomerular filtration membrane improves and a lot of protein will be filtered out into urine. In clinic, the persons are diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome.

Symptoms of Nephrotic Syndrome
* Swelling: It is a major symptom in Nephroitc Syndrome and especially occurs around the eyes, faces and ankles. In severe case, the persons with Nephrotic Syndrome may experience swelling in belly area.
*  Foamy urine: It is caused by the protein loss in urine.
* Weight gain: It is due to the retention of fluid in body.
*  High blood pressure: It affects both young and old persons with Nephrotic Syndrome.

Complications of Nephrotic Syndrome
* Infection: The persons with Nephrotic Syndrome have a high risk of developing infection.
* Chronic Renal Failure: Nephrotic Syndrome may cause the kidney function decline gradually over time.
* Acute Renal Failure: If the glomeruli are impaired seriously, a mass of wastes products will build up quickly in blood resulting renal function to decline at a fast speed.
* Malnutrition: Proteins are the main sources supplying energy for the body. As a mass of protein loss in urine can result in malnutrition.
* Blood clots: The proteins in blood can help prevent clotting. Therefore, the loss of blood proteins can increase the chance of developing blood clots in the veins.

Treatment of Nephrotic Syndrome
Nephrotic Syndrome is a complex immunological disease affecting glomeruli. The conventional therapies mainly focus on the symptoms of the disease. The experience shows that the conventional along is not enough to treat Nephrotic Syndrome effectively. Clinical practices prove that immunotherapy can help the disease more effectively.


Immunotherapy is a great achievement medical field and brings new hope to the persons with intractable disease. As for the treatment of Nephrotic Syndrome, it aims at eliminating symptoms from its underlying causes. Immunotherapy can suppress the abnormal immune response, block the formation of immune complexes as wells as clear up the immune complexes deposited in blood and glomeruli. In this way, it can inhibit further damage to kidneys effectively.


Moreover, immunotherapy can restore the impaired renal tissues and correct the immune disorder as well as help rebuild immunity system. Therefore, it can make the persons with Nephrotic Syndrome avoid the relapse of the disease.


Immunotherapy is a breakthrough in the field of Kidney Disease treatment and makes it possible for the persons to avoid dialysis or kidney transplant.

Latest Treatment of Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis

Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis is featured by mesangial cells proliferation and mesangial matrix increasing. Generally speaking, the prognosis of the disease is good. However, if the mesangial cells proliferation severe along with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) renal interstitial fibrosis, its prognosis is extremely poor. For this part of patients, the relapse rate after kidney transplant is as high as 40%~60%. Therefore, it is very important for the patients with Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis to take treatment as early as possible.( The Efficient Treatment for Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis )

Autoimmunity plays the major role in Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis. In most cases of the disease, the patients had a medical history of infection. When external pathological substances (antigens) invade into body, the relative antibodies are activated to deal with the pathological substances. In normal condition, the antibodies can defeat the antigens. Finally, the body recovers normal from illness. However, some persons have immune deficiency so their immune system is activated improperly. The activated antibodies and antigens combine to form circulatory immune complexes and then deposit in mesangial are thus leading to mesangial cells proliferation. These immune complexes attract inflammatory factors thus impairing the kidneys. In clinic, the persons are diagnosed with Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis.

After the above analysis of the underlying causes of Mesangial Proliferative Glomerulonephritis, it can be seen that correcting abnormal immune system and removing the immune complexes is the key in treating the disease and stopping its further damage to kidneys. Immunotherapy has showed its effective efficiency in realizing the above therapeutic goals.

Immunotherapy can clear up the abnormal antigens and antibodies so as to stop the formation of immune complexes. Also it can promote the excretion of the immune complexes by degrading the complexes and improving the clearance ability of the body.

In this way, the patients will be able to avoid dialysis or kidney transplant.

Learn More: The Prognosis of Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis (MPGN)

IgA Nephropathy: Symptoms and Prognosis

IgA Nephropathy is a kidney disorder caused by immune complexes deposition in glomeruli. It mainly affects people between 16~35 years old.

Symptoms of IgA Nephropathy
* Gross hematuria: It usually occurs a short time (24~72 hours) later after upper respiratory infection. Sometimes, the persons are also accompanied by mild systemic symptoms like muscle pain, painful urination, low fever ad back pain. The gross hematuria usually occurs frequently and it may convert to microscopic hematuria after a period.
* Microscopic hematuria with or without asymptomatic proteinuria: It is very common among children and adults.
* Proteinuria: It is usually mild and the urine protein is less than 1 gram in 24 hours. However, in a minority of cases, the persons may suffer from massive proteinuria and even Nephrotic Syndrome.
* Rapidly progressive nephritis syndrome: It is rare. The persons usually have persistent gross hematuria, massive of proteinuria. The renal function aggravates in a very short time along with edema and mild or moderate high blood pressure.
* Others: For the patients with typical clinical symptoms, they often experience intense pain in back and abdomen along with kidney stone. In this case, the disease is usually are misdiagnosed as kidney stone, pyelonephritis or acute gastroenteritis.

Prognosis of IgA Nephropathy
The following factors can influence the prognosis of IgA Nephropathy.
* The prognosis of IgA Nephropathy is poorer in male than female. What’s more, the earlier the disease starts, the worse its prognosis will be.
* For the persons with frequent gross hematuria, the prognosis is bad.
* If the persons with IgA Nephropathy develop massive proteinuria or Nephrotic Syndrome, the prognosis is not good.
* If the persons with IgA Nephropathy have a poor control of blood pressure, the prognosis is bad.
* If the pathological change in IgA Nephropathy such as crescent formation, interstitial fibrosis etc, the prognosis is bad.

Learn More: An Alternative to Kidney Transplant for IgA Nephropathy

The Newest Treatment for FSGS: Immunotherapy

Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is an autoimmune disease. Immune disorder or deficiency is attributed to the incidence of the disease. Therefore, the right way to treat FSGS is to correct the immune system and repair the impaired kidney structure.

For healthy people, when the external pathological substances as antigens invade into body, the immune system can activate the related antibodies to fight the antigens. After the antigens are eliminated, the immune complexes of antigens and antibodies will be brought out of body through systemic circulation.

However, in some cases, the immune complexes can not be removed and they will enter into kidneys and deposit in the epithelial cells of the glomeruli. These immune complexes attract inflammatory factors gradually thus leading to inflammation of glomeruli. As a result, the epithelial cells are impaired and lost their barrier function. In clinic, the persons are diagnosed with FSGS and will present hematuria, proteinuria etc and other symptoms of FSGS.

The conventional therapies only focus on reliving the symptoms of FSGS and suppressing the inflammation reaction. However, it can not remove the immune complexes. Therefore, the disease often relapses frequently and finally develops into End Stage Renal Failure.

Immunotherapy treats FSGS from its underlying causes. It can remove the immune complexes in kidneys, block the inflammation reaction as well as restore the impaired renal epithelial cells. It can inhibit the renal fibrosis fundamentally and stop the renal function decline from its root cause.
Immunotherapy is aims at correcting the body's own immune system and recover the abnormal protection function of the body. It does not cause side effects to patients at all.

Learn More: Chinese Medicine: An Herbal Remedy for FSGS Kidney Disease

Tips Help You Prevent Kidney Problem

Kidneys are important organs responsible for filtering the toxins from body. If they can not function normally, it will cause many health issues. This article will list some tips that can help you prevent kidney problem.
 
Control blood pressure:
*  Blood pressure is a leading cause of Kidney Disease. Make sure your blood pressure is controlled. If you have chronic high blood pressure, it can increase your risk of developing Kidney Disease greatly. You should take proper medications to control your blood pressure at the target level 130/90 mmHg.

Drink lots of water:
* The kidneys filter the metabolic wastes from the blood and discharge them out of body in the form of urine. If the blood is not diluted well, the kidneys can not finish the function very well. If the wastes can not be filtered, it will result in various kinds of kidney problems.

Urinate frequently:
* If you have the urge to urinate, you should go to toilet at once. Holding back urine for a long time can cause bacterial growth in bladder and urinary tract resulting in infection. If the infection spreads to kidneys, it can impair the kidney function.

Avoid alcohol and smoking:
* The persons with the habits of drinking alcohol and smoking are more likely to suffer from kidney problem. Nicotine and alcohol can cause atherosclerosis resulting in high blood pressure. In turn, high blood pressure can impair kidneys. Moreover, smoking and drinking can induce a lot of toxins within the body which can easily damage the kidneys.

Regular check-ups:
* Kidney Disease usually starts silently without causing symptoms in the early stage. You should get yourself checked regularly, especially for those above 45 years old and under prolonged medications. Also the patients with Diabetes and high blood pressure also need to take regular check-ups.

Eat healthy:
* Fresh vegetables and fruits can keep you healthy and provide you with all the essential nutrients. You should include these foods in your daily diet. However, you should avoid eating junk food and reduce the drinks like coffee, carbonated drinks.
The above tips are very useful for you. If you can follow them in daily life, it can reduce the incidence of kidney damage greatly.

Learn More: Sleeplessness and Kidney Disease

Newest Treatment of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)-associated Nephropathy

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)-associated Nephropathy refers to the inflammation of glomeruli caused by HBV. Left untreated, it may develop into Chronic Kidney Failure. Therefore, it is essential for the patients with HBV-associated Nephropathy to receive treatment as early as possible.

Immunological injury plays the major role in HBV-associated Nephropathy. When HBV invades into body, they can not be killed by the related antibodies. As a result, when HBV antigens encounter antibodies, they will bind to each other to form immune complexes in blood. These immune complexes can not dissolved in blood. Afterwards, they will enter into glomeruli and cause inflammation of glomeruli. The inflammation will damage the epithelial cells of the glomerular capillaries resulting in HBV-associated Nephropathy. As the barrier function of glomerular epithelial cells is impaired, they can not prevent the leakage of protein, red blood cells. In clinic, the patients will present proteinuria, hematuria and high blood pressure etc.

The patients with HBV-associated Nephropathy usually are not sensitive to hormone. After a long term of hormonetherapy, most of the patients develop Chronic Renal Insufficiency. In order to achieve a favorable therapeutic effect of HBV-associated Nephropathy, immunotherapy is introduced into the field of kidney disease treatment.

Immunotherapy aims at reliving the symptoms of HBV-associated Nephropathy by correcting immune disorder, removing immune complexes as well as restoring the impaired kidney structure.

In immunotherapy, blood purification can remove the pathological factors and block the immune complexes formation. Moreover, Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy not only can degrade the immune complexes and promote their excretion out of body, but also can correct the immunity and promote the clearance ability of the body’s own. Therefore, these treatment methods can stop the disease aggravation effectively.

How to Diagnosis Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)-associated Nephropathy

Most patients with HBV only pay attention to the inspection on liver function, but do not know that HBV also can lead to kidney injury. As a result, many patients may develop Renal Insufficiency. Therefore, early diagnosis of HBV-associated Nephropathy is very important for the patients with HBV.
 
1. Clinical symptoms
Most of the patients with HBV-associated Nephropathy have protein in urine and gross hematuria rarely occurs. Most of the patients have high blood pressure.

2. Lab examination
The lab examination results in HBV-associated Nephropathy are as follows:
* Urine test is abnormal. Most of the patients have proteinuria and microscopic hematuria. In some cases, the patients may develop Nephrotic Syndrome.
* Hypocomplementemia and cryoglobulinemia
* Globulin level increasing is a main clinical feature of HBV-associated Nephropathy. If IgG and IgA levels increase, it proves that the lesion is in active state.

3. Microscopic examination
Under microscopy, the pathological changes in HBV-associated Nephropathy can present as Membranous Nephropathy, Mesangial Proliferative Nephropathy or Membranous Proliferative Nephropathy. The glomerular basement membrane has irregular incrassation along with mesangial cells increasing.

4. Immunologic examination
In immunological test, various kinds of immune complexes such as IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, C4 etc deposit in glomeruli.

5. Electron microscope
Electron microscope can present electron dense deposits depositing in mesangial area, glomerular basement membrane, the glomerular endothelial cells etc.
The above are the main tests for HBV-associated Nephropathy. For the patients with HBV, if they take related tests regularly so as to find if they have renal injury as early as possible.