Treatment for Minimal Change Disease with Frequent Relapses

Nephrotic syndrome can occur in both children and adults.Minimal change disease is one type of pathological categories and is commonly seen in children.What is the treatment for minimal change disease with frequent relapses?

Why does minimal change disease relapse so frequently?

Minimal change disease can be primary and secondary.Primary means that the disease occurs on its own for no obvious reason. Secondary means that the disease is caused by another disease or condition like infection,allergy,drugs etc.

No matter it is primary or secondary,the general cause of minimal change disease is immune disorder.In right condition, when foreign harmful substances invade into body,the immune system will produce antibodies to defeat them. However,when immune system fails to function well,after the harmful substances are eliminated, the immune system will stop working.Excess immune response can cause inflammation in kidneys,leading to scarring of glomeruli which are filters in kidneys. As a result, a large amount of protein will leak into urine.Heavy protein in urine can give rise to the minimal change disease.

In general cases,the patients will have a remission after a period of steroid treatment and have a good long-term outcome.

However,if the immunity is very weak, the abnormal immune response is very likely to relapse when there is any triggering factor.

Treatment for minimal change disease with frequent relapses

To treat minimal change disease fundamentally and stop it from relapsing,immunotherapy is recommended to the patients.

Immunotherapy has been applied to treat a variety of refractory aliments like cancer and it has showed enormous curative effects in clinic.

Immunotherapy can suppress the abnormal inflammatory response in kidneys to stop further immune damage to kidneys.

Additionally,it can correct the immune disorder and help the body recover normal immune system. If so, the immune system will return to normal to protect the body instead of attack kidneys. Consequently, minimal change disease with frequent relapses will be controlled fundamentally.