Treatment Suggestions For IgA Nephropathy

Once people are diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, they always ask, “Is There A Complete Treatment For IgA Nephropathy”? As we know, IgA Nephropathy is a kidney disorder that causes inflammation of the glomeruli. The inflammation is produced by a buildup of substance called immunoglobin A in the kidneys. Thus, surrounding renal intrinsic cells and tissues will be damaged. When kidneys are deteriorated,they can not excrete wastes and fluid out of your body timely or effectively, causing other complications. If untreated timely, IgA Nephropathy leads to renal (kidney) failure and other related complications. In the following, I will give some treatment suggestions which can help to control IgA Nephropathy.

First, your dietitian may suggest you have a strict and reasonable diet, including:

Balance your protein intake and have high quality protein foods

Protein in urine is often seen due to damaged kidneys which lose ability to preserve protein in body. As a result, IgA Nephropathy patients usually have protein in urine. In this condition, if they still ingest much protein, the symptom will be aggravated and easily lead to renal failure. To relieve the symptom and your sufferings, you should limit your protein intake and choose some high quality protein foods such as fish, lean meat and egg white.

Limit your potassium intake

Kidney diseases easily lead to high potassium and your lab tests show your potassium is high than normal. In this case, you should avoid high potassium foods like bananas and potatoes.

The above diet only provides some information for you and is not suitable for individuals. Therefore, how much you should ingest and what is suitable for you depend on your illness condition.

In addition, we have medical treatments for the symptom. That is to say, treatment with a number of medications can slow the progression of IgA Nephropathy and help you manage your symptoms like high blood pressure and protein in urine.

High blood pressure medications: a common complication of IgA Nephropathy is high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, you can take angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) which can lower your blood pressure and also reduce the amount of protein in the urine.

Immunosuppressants: corticosteroid medications, like prednisone, may be helpful for protecting your kidney function. But these drugs have many side-effects, so talk with your doctors about the possible side effects and proper dose before taking them.

Mycophenolate mofetil: it has been used successfully in some patients who have persistent protein in urine.

Any drug is likely to have side-effects. As a result, before taking any drugs, consult your doctors and be careful.

What we can do is just to reduce the progression of IgA Nephropathy and try to avoid the need for kidney dialysis and kidney transplantation. Once you are diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy, do not worry much about it. Following a reasonable diet and taking some medications may be helpful for you to prolong your life span.