Chronic renal failure (in Latin: Insufficientia renalis chronica) is a condition of impaired renal functions – excretory, regulatory and endocrine. Chronic renal failure has different stages depending on the severity of the condition – from lightest (1-st) to the most severe (5-th) stage, which depends on hemodialysis. The time between identification of the problem and the beginning of the treatment is very important and determines to a great extent the reversibility of the damage to the urinary system.

Diagnosis

The main indicator for diagnosis and classification of the condition stage is the value of the laboratory determined glomerular filtration. This value is calculated based on the serum creatinine as indirect reflection of the excreted creatinine from the kidneys, but it can also be determined after gathering the urine from the whole day (24 hours) and weighing excrete waste nitrogen substances. The diagnosis is made having in mind the history of the renal illness and the laboratory indicators. People with chronic renal failure present a number of non-specific symptoms, which must be ordered by significance. Decreased volume and frequency of urination is observed, backache, nausea when taking water and other liquids, slow heartbeat or palpitations, pant, strong body odor of urine or deposition of salt crystals on the skin, deposition of pigments (spots) on the skin, severe itching or rash. In the laboratory blood results is observed increase of the levels of urea and creatinine, possible increase of the concentration of the serum phosphates and potassium. The urinal analysis can show high levels of proteins, erythrocytes, sediments etc.

Treatment of the disease

CRF is not curable, except in very light form, but it is controlled and the progress of the disease is limited through blood pressure control, reducing other cardiovascular risk factors, maintaining normal blood sugar, a proper diet, medicinal chemical buffers, vitamins, limiting the liquids in the more advanced stage of the disease, decreasing the protein and fat intake as energy losses are covered by carbohydrates balance. Potassium, phosphates and salt intake is also limited.
Medication of the acute form depends on the causes of the disease, it is therefore extremely important to interpret properly the concrete symptoms of the illness. Chronic failure requires regular laboratory check-ups, excellent blood pressure control and diabetes, dispensary to nephrologist and a strict diet. In the terminal phase of the disease, if a proper donor is available, a kidney transplantation can be performed. Transplantation terminates hemodialysis or other filtration exchange, but requires maintenance mode of the body and drugs on the immune rejection of the transplant.