Conditions We Treat

Chronic Kidney Disease

Understanding Chronic Kidney Disease Doesn't Have to Feel Overwhelming.

When you're facing a chronic kidney disease diagnosis, you need more than medical management—you need a care team that understands your concerns and helps you maintain the life you want to live.

What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?

Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects as many as one in nine Americans and may be caused by diabetes, hypertension, glomerulonephritis, hereditary or urological diseases.

CKD is defined as kidney damage or a decrease in kidney function that persists over three months. The GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is a formula that uses age, race, gender and serum creatinine level to measure kidney function. Patients who have a GFR less than 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 for three months or more are diagnosed as having CKD. Kidney disease progresses as the number of nephrons (filtering units) diminish. However, it is possible to slow the progression of kidney disease at its various stages – with the goal, as often as possible, being to prevent the development of kidney failure requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation.

Together, we'll develop strategies that help you stay active, healthy, and confident in your care.

How We Help

We help you slow progression and maintain quality of life through personalized management plans that work with your daily routine.

We understand that learning about chronic kidney disease can bring uncertainty about your future. That's exactly why our Northwest Florida specialists focus not just on slowing disease progression, but on creating personalized management plans that work with your daily routine and long-term goals.

Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease

The National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative for Clinical Practice Guidelines on CKD outlines the stages for evaluation, classification and treatment strategy.

This universal classification system enables providers to develop an action plan tailored to the stage of the disease. Some key factors in managing CKD include nutrition, blood pressure monitoring, stress management and dialysis. Our goal is to identify and reduce the risk factors associated with loss of kidney function by creating an action plan and closely monitoring the GFR to determine the effectiveness of our efforts.

Stage 1

90 ml/min/1.73m2 Kidney damage with normal or high GFR

Stage 2

60 to 89 ml/min/1.73m2 Kidney damage with mild decreased GFR

Stage 3

30 to 59 ml/min/1.73m2 Moderately decreased GFR

Stage 4

15 to 29 ml/min/1.73m2 Severely decreased GFR

Stage 5

<15 ml/min/1.73m2 Kidney Failure

Causes & Symptoms

Kidney Disease develops when healthy kidney function slows down resulting in waste and excess fluid staying in the body. Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is defined as kidney damage or a decrease in kidney function below 60% of normal that persists over three months.

There are often no early warning symptoms; however, as CKD progresses, causes and symptoms may include:

Causes

  • Diabetes
  • Malformations in babies during development in utero
  • High blood pressure
  • Lupus and other immune system diseases
  • Glomerulonephritis which causes inflammation and damage to the kidney’s filtering units.
  • Kidney stones, tumors, enlarged prostate
  • Polycystic kidney disease in which large cysts form in the kidneys and damage surrounding tissue.
  • Repeated urinary tract infections

Symptoms

  • Weakness
  • Lack of concentration
  • Loss of appetite
  • Metallic taste in the mouth or ammonia breath
  • Inability to sleep
  • Swelling in the feet and ankles
  • Dry, itchy skin
  • Muscle cramps at night
  • Puffiness around the eyes, particularly in the morning
  • Increasing frequency of urination, especially at night

Prevention & Complications

There are some preventative measures you can take to decrease your risk of developing CKD.

Prevention

  • Monitor your blood pressure – this should often be 130/80 or below, and often requires a good bit of effort from the patient and providers to get there
  • Physical activity most days of the week
  • Follow a balanced nutrition plan
  • Do not smoke
  • Follow your doctor prescribed treatment plan for high blood pressure or diabetes
  • Limit the amount of over-the-counter pain medications you take
  • Treat urinary tract infections immediately
  • Drink water instead of refined-sugar laden soft drinks and juices

Complications

  • High blood pressure leading to headaches, dizziness, confusion, double/blurred vision, seizures, heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
  • Anemia (low red blood cell counts) that can be associated with pale complexion, weakness, reduced ability to exercise, feeling of poor health, constantly feeling cold, heart disease and decreased alertness and thinking ability.
  • Cardiovascular Disease developing a higher risk of chest pain, heart attacks and congestive heart failure with symptoms including shortness of breath, swelling of feet/ankles, stroke, and narrowing of the arteries in the legs causing pain, inability to walk and tissue breakdown.
  • Cholesterol/triglyceride abnormalities
  • Nutrition imbalances, decrease in appetite, lower protein levels in blood, and loss of muscle.
  • Bone disorders including abnormal bone structure, decreased bone strength and bone pain.
  • Neuropathy resulting in fatigue, impaired memory, confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, coma, sleep disorders, decreased sensation in extremities, itching, burning and muscle irritability.

Your journey to better kidney health starts with understanding your options.

Patient Care and Education

Whether you're seeking a second opinion, need ongoing management for a diagnosed condition, or want to explore treatment possibilities, we're here to listen to your concerns and help you find the path forward that gives you the most confidence and peace of mind

Quality Kidney Care Close to Home, Wherever You Are in Northwest Florida

Care Centers

Take Control of Your Kidney Health to Feel Confident About Your Future

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