What are the Symptoms and Treatments for FSGS

Focal Segmental Glomerular Sclerosis is a pathological diagnosis for a type of kidney disorder that affects glomerulis, the filtering cells of the kidneys. It is a common cause of Nephrotic Syndrome in children, as well as an important cause of kidney failure in adults. FSGS may progress into end-stage renal failure if not detected timely or poorly controlled. After you get a full understanding of this disease, you will realize what you can do to improve your health status and control this disease.

What does focal segmental glomerular sclerosis mean? Sclerosis means scarring. There are millions of tiny, microscopic filters in the kidneys called as glomeruli. They are filters much like a sieve you might use in your kitchen, and they filter blood, taking out the water-like part that becomes urine and leaving the proteins in blood. If the glomeruli become scarred, then they stop doing a good job filtering the blood and protein starts leaking into the urine instead of staying in the blood. The word “focal” is added because only some of the glomerular filters are scarred. And segmental means that only some sections of the glomerulus becomes scarred, just parts of them.

What are the symptoms of FSGS? People experience proteinuria, edema and high blood pressure because glomerular cells are impaired and not functioning properly. The diagnosis of FSGS is often based on renal biopsy. However, because only some sections of the glomeruli are affected, the biopsy can sometimes be inconclusive.

What is proper treatment for FSGS? FSGS is a type of autoimmune disease mediated by immune cells. The infiltrating T cells in the glomeruli attack renal inherent cells directly or damage the epithelial cells by releasing vascular permeability factors. If people have proteinuria or blood in urine, they are often prescribed immunosuppression medicines to control the immune reaction. ACEI or ARB medicines help to protect renal intrinsic cells. Commonly, the treatment is stopped here and people find their symptoms can be controlled by medicines but relapse very easily. Each time a relapse happens, renal condition will get deteriorated. That’s because the immune complexes deposited on the mesangial area are not clearly up effectively. If immune complexes are not removed, when people stop medicines or infection occurs, immune reaction will happen again to damage glomerular filters.

To rid the immune complexes, methods include accelerating blood circulation, removing blood stasis, regulating the immune system and resisting inflammations. Chinese medicine treatment is effective in regard to this because herbal ingredients help nourish Qi and Xue, strengthen immunity and promote blood circulation. Chinese medicine treatment joined with western treatment combine the advantages of the two to help people with FSGS to improve renal condition, stop further renal fibrosis and avoid dangers of ESRD or kidney failure.