Kidney Disease?

Kidney Disease?My dad (71 yrs old) was just told that his kidneys are functioning at 65%. How serious is this and would he have to go on dialysis eventually? He's been seriously ill within the past 10 months. It started with a stroke, then they installed a pace maker because of heart problems (IHSS), then his medicine caused internal bleeding (lost 9 units of blood), then he had emergency gall bladder surgery and has numerous gout attacks because of all the stress. Now we get this news. What are the options for this?

c_schumacker
There are no real options. Sometimes kidney function remains stable for a long period of time. Keeping your dad well hydrated (too much of anything is not good - you can die of water intoxication too, so use some good sense here) is important.

Have a discussion with your doctor about any nephrotoxic medications he may be taking (anti-gout medications and some high blood pressure medications particularly) and consider alternatives.

If he is diabetic he needs to be certain his sugars are below 180 at all times. The better control of his blood sugars to normal, the better his kidneys will respond. If he does not have a diagnosis of diabetes then he should be carefully screened for it.

If there has not been an ultra sound to evaluate the renal artery flow, that should be done. It can be a source of kidney failure.

If his blood pressure is over 130, systolic, then it requires better control.

Special precautions should be used prior to any dye administration for imagining or cardiac catheterizations.

I don't think the IHSS (Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis) is necessarily playing a role with this problem.

Additionally with chronic kidney failure people often become anemic due to losing red blood cells through filtration. It therefore is important that his doctor keep tabs on this matter.

Will he progress to total kideny failure? I don't know. Some people do fine with reduced kidney function over many years, without much change. Other's especially those with comorbid illness, like diabetes and hypertension, have continued decline in kidney function until they require dialysis. If you have further questions, it may be of benefit for you to visit a nephrologist with your Dad.

I hope this helped. Good luck.

What do you think? Answer below! Gout - information, symptoms and treatments. Googout.info health information factsheet - advice on gout and its symptoms, causes and treatment, plus prevention through diet.

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