Bone Disease in Chronic Kidney Failure

Chronic Kidney Failure is the major cause of bone disease in many cases and many people must wonder how is kidney failure associated with bone and how do Chronic Kidney Failure patients know if they are experiencing bone problems.

How is Chronic Kidney Failure associated with bone disease?

Kidney is an extremely important organ with multiple functions. Healthy kidneys help keep our bone healthy and they do mainly in two ways:

1. Kidneys are responsible for keeping electrolyte balance. Failed kidneys can not function properly, which can result in high phosphorus level. Too much phosphorus level build up in the body and this can cause our body to pull calcium from the bones, making them weak.

2. Vitamin D is the necessary substance for our bone to work well and healthy kidneys help our body to use vitamin D. When kidneys are damaged seriously, our body may not be able to use vitamin D like it should. Therefore, Chronic Kidney Failure patients are at high risk to suffer from bone diseases.

How do Chronic Kidney Failure patients know if they are suffering from bone disease?

Bone disease is one of the complications of Chronic Kidney Failure and can be diagnosed by medical tests. In clinical, when one is suspected to have bone diseases, he is usually suggested to have blood test to check for calcium level, phosphorus level, parathyroid hormone (also called PTH) and vitamin D, and bone density scan or x-ray. Also, bone biopsy can be used to help diagnose bone disease, but it is not as common as other tests.

Besides, bone disease caused by Chronic Kidney Failure can bring patients lots of abnormal symptoms which also can help to know if they are suffering from bone disease. Mostly, Chronic Kidney Failure patients with bone disease will experience bone pain, joint pain, bone deformation, one fracture, and poor mobility. If any patient found he has the above symptoms, he should be alert about his bone and go to hospital for examination to find out the causes as soon as possible.

Bone disease affect Chronic Kidney Failure patient’s life seriously and it has became one of the major complain in clinic. In this light, it is very necessary for Chronic Kidney Failure patients who have bone disease to take measures to treat their bone problems and this will help to improve their life expectancy greatly.