Reasons for chronic renal failure

 renal failure

The cause for CRF sometimes can be determined by a detailed medical history, a comprehensive physical examination, and laboratory studies. More often than not, determining the cause of CRF is difficult if not impossible. Even a kidney biopsy may be inconclusive, because all forms of kidney failure eventually progress to diffuse scarring and look the same on kidney biopsy. The most common causes for CRF are diabetes and high blood pressure (hypertension). Acute kidney injury increases the risk for chronic kidney failure.

Chronic renal failure, or chronic kidney disease (CKD), is a slow and progressive decline of kidney function. It's usually a result of a complication from another serious medical condition. Unlike acute renal failure, which happens quickly and suddenly, chronic renal failure happens gradually - over a period of weeks, months, or years - as the kidneys slowly stop working, leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Kidney disorders, including chronic renal failure, are common in patients who have multiple myeloma (cancer that begins in a type of white blood cell called plasma cells). Several different factors are related to renal disease associated with multiple myeloma.
Myeloma cells produce large numbers of proteins in the urine (called proteinuria). These proteins often form deposits in the kidneys (condition called amyloidosis) and cause kidney failure. In addition, multiple myeloma increases the risk for hypercalcemia (high levels of calcium in the blood) and anemia (low levels of red blood cells) and results in high blood levels of uric acid, which also increase the risk for chronic renal failure.
Causes of Pre-Renal CRF

Some medical conditions cause continuous hypoperfusion (low blood flow) of the kidneys, leading to kidney atrophy (shrinking), loss of nephron function, and chronic renal failure (CRF). These conditions include poor cardiac function, chronic liver failure, and atherosclerosis ("hardening") of the renal arteries. Each of these conditions can induce ischemic nephropathy.

Causes of Chronic Renal Failure

The most common causes of chronic renal failure in North America are diabetes mellitus (type 1 or type 2 diabetes) and high blood pressure. The most common cause of end-stage renal failure worldwide is IgA nephropathy (an inflammatory disease of the kidney).

One of the complications resulting from diabetes or high blood pressure is the damage to the small blood vessels in the body. The blood vessels in the kidneys also become damaged, resulting in CKD.

Symptoms and Complications of Chronic Renal Failure

Chronic renal failure can be present for many years before you notice any symptoms. If your doctor suspects that you may be likely to develop renal failure, he or she will probably catch it early by conducting regular blood and urine tests. If regular monitoring isn't done, the symptoms may not be detected until the kidneys have already been damaged. Some of the symptoms - such as fatigue - may have been present for some time, but can come on so gradually that they aren't noticed or attributed to kidney failure。

Want to learn more knowledge about the kidney disease, please consult our website