How to Avoid Kidney Transplant in Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease

Chronic kidney disease can be staged into mild renal damage, moderate renal damage, advanced renal damage and end stage renal damage according to residual renal functional units.

Stage 4 CKD means that there have already been advanced renal impairments and the indicator of renal function, GFR (glomerular filtration rate) has dropped to 15-30ml/min.

Stage 4 CKD is very crucial for effective and timely treatments because there is only one step away from end stage renal disease and the illness will rapidly progress into the final stage if not treated properly and timely.

Since more than 2/3 of kidney functions have been lost, patients will develop a series of symptoms, disorders and discomforts due to too much accumulation of metabolic wastes and toxins in the body. Besides some laboratory measurements such as serum creatinine, BUN will be much higher than normal range. To cope with life-threatening conditions, patients will have to make early and thorough preparation for dialysis and join for the list waiting for matching kidney donors.

However, with proper and timely treatments and daily nursings, many patients can stay in this stage for years without progressing into the final stage so as to put off dialysis and kidney transplant or avoid kidney transplant because we know that the extreme scarcity of matching kidney donors has become a global issue and not every patient has the chance to receive kidney transplant even when their illness condition requires kidney transplant urgently.

Besides taking prescribed medicines regularly, it is recommended that stage 4 CKD patients should visit the nephrologists every 3 months and take related examinations such as blood test, urine test to monitor the illness progression and how kidneys function. Nephrologists will also monitor other underlying conditions such as blood pressure, blood sugar so as to reduce risk factors and keep their kidneys function as long as possible.

Patients can add some herbal medicines and Chinese health cares such as massage, acupuncture into their treatment plans under the permission and guidance of their doctors. Herbal medicines can have mild and durable effects on regulating internal disorders and recovering certain kidney functions so as to help delay or even avoid kidney transplant.