Management of Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease

The kidneys play a key role in keeping a person's blood pressure in a healthy range, and blood pressure, in turn, can affect the health of the kidneys. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, can damage the kidneys and lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD). For people with chronic kidney disease, careful management of blood pressure is also of vital importance to delay progression of kidney condition and protect the kidneys.

Impact of hypertension on chronic kidney disease

Arterial hypertension is one of the most important factors associated with the progression of chronic kidney disease. Keeping your blood pressure at prescribed levels is important in both preventing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and slowing its progression. If you have diabetes or proteinuria (protein in the urine), it is especially important to control your high blood pressure. Kidney disease hypertension is serious and requires your attention to achieve good control.

High blood pressure (or hypertension) is the second leading cause of CKD. If you have high blood pressure and it goes untreated, blood vessels throughout your body can be damaged.

Kidney disease occurs when renal blood vessels are damaged. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health problem and it is associated with elevated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Hypertension can increase risks of damage on blood vessels in heart, brain, etc thus worsening the prognosis in chronic kidney disesase. That's blood pressure management of blood pressure matters in people with kidney diseases.

Management of Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease

If you are hypertensive or pre-hypertensive, you will benefit by proper lifetyle modifications to control your blood pressure. Maintain your weight at a level appropriate for you height. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods (unless you are prescribed a diet). Limit your daily sodium intake to 2,000 milligrams helps to control blood pressure. In addition, avoid consuming too much alcohol and do not smoke for your health.

Along with a healthy lifestyle, you may need medication to control your blood pressure. The most common types of blood pressure medications are diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. You may need to take two or more blood pressure medications to keep your blood pressure at or below 130/80 if you have been diagnosed with kidney disease hypertension.