Overview of Nephrotic Syndrome

II. What causes Nephrotic Syndrome?

To know what causes Nephrotic Syndrome, let us first briefly understand the structure and function of the kidneys.

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs found in the lower back. They are about the size of a fist. The kidneys are like body's filters, which remove wastes from the blood via the urine and return the cleaned blood back to the body. Each of these kidneys has millions of units to filter blood called glomeruli. Glomeruli are tiny blood vessels that form a meshwork in the kidney through which blood is strained to filter out excess water and waste products.

When the kidneys are working well, they clean the blood and get rid of waste products, excess salt, and water. When diseased, the kidneys may get rid of things that the body needs to keep, such as proteins and blood cells.

Nephrotic Syndrome can be the result of a number of diseases that damage the filtering units of the kidneys in a specific way that allows them to leak protein into the urine. According to the exact causes of a series of diseases leading to Nephrotic Syndrome, Nephrotic Syndrome can be primary or secondary. Primary Nephrotic Syndrome includes Minimal Change Disease, Membrabous Nephropathy, MPGN, FSGS, IgA Nephropathy, which directly do damage to the filtering units of the kidneys. Secondary Nephrotic Syndrome includes Purpura Nephritis, Lupus Nephritis, Diabetic Nephropathy, Hypertensive Nephropathy etc, in which kidneys are not the first organ being damaged but the complication of other primary factors such as lupus erythematosus, purpura, Diabetes, Hypertension and so on.

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III. What are the symptoms of Nephrotic Syndrome?

1. Swelling of body parts (called edema): The normal architecture of the glomeruli prevents a majority of protein from getting filtered into the urine and this holds protein in the blood. Protein help the blood soak up water from tissues. But kidneys with damaged filters may let protein leak into the urine. As a result, not enough protein is left in the blood to soak up the water. The water then moves from the blood into body tissues, producing swelling. This swelling may be most noticeable around the eyes, legs, hands, belly, etc.

2. Abnormal protein leakage (Proteinuria): Normally, a person loses less than 150 mg of protein in the urine in a 24-hour period. However, patient of Nephrotic Syndrome will lose more than 3.5 grams or more of protein during a 24-hour period, or 25 times the normal amount.

3. Low level of proteins in blood (hypoproteinemia):As body looses this vital protein in the urine, resulting in drop of protein in the blood called hypoproteinemia or hypoalbuminemia, another cardinal feature of Nephrotic Syndrome.

4. Hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol) is common in Nephrotic Syndrome. In addition to albumin, other important enzymes involved in cholesterol metabolism, slip through the glomeruli, which contribute to high blood cholesterol.

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IV. How to diagnose Nephrotic Syndrome?

Usually most of Nephrotic Syndrome patients go to see doctor because there is edema (swelling) around some body parts, such as eye lids, legs, hands, belly etc or there is large amount of foams in the urine, prompting protein in the urine.

The doctor will ask what symptoms the patients have, his medical history, and family history etc so as to make some possible diagnosis. Then the doctor will ask the patients do some related test to make further diagnosis. The tests are as follows:

(1) Urinalysis (urine test): This test helps to make sure if there are protein in the urine and the severity. In order to determine the exact amount of proteins in the urine, a 24-hour quantitative test may be ordered. For this, the urine is collected over period of 24 hours and amount of protein in the urine is measured.

Normally, a person loses less than 150 mg of protein in the urine in a 24-hour period. However, patient of Nephrotic Syndrome will loose more than 3.5 grams or more of protein during a 24-hour period.

(2) Blood analysis (blood test): This test is mainly to see the cholesterol level and albumin level. Hypoalbuminemia (low albumin in blood) is the second of the cardinal laboratory features of Nephrotic Syndrome. The level of serum albumin in Nephrotic Syndrome can be less than 2.5 g/dL

Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol in blood) is a common feature of Nephrotic Syndrome. When with Nephrotic Syndrome the low-density lipoprotein and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations are elevated, whereas the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level is decreased.

(3) Blood biochemistry test: The test helps to make sure if the kidneys have been influenced testing if the serum creatinine and BUN level elevate, if there is disorder of electrolyte and what the eGFR level is.

(4) Kidney Biopsy: In order to make sure the exact causes of Nephrotic Syndrome and the severity of the pathological changes in the kidneys, sometimes a kidney biopsy test is asked. By this test, the doctor can know the specific types of the disease, such as Minimal Change Disease, Membrabous Nephropathy, MPGN, FSGS, IgA Nephropathy and so on. The doctor can also know the exact damage degree of the disease by seeing how many glomeruli are necrosis or sclerosis, how many glomeruli are undergoing pathological changes and how many glomeruli are normal.

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V. What treatments are available?

(1) Western Treatment: In treating Nephrotic Syndrome, hormone and immunosuppressant are commonly used. These kinds of medicines make the symptoms like Proteinuria, edema, high blood pressure etc under control in a shorter time. However, Nephrotic Syndrome patients often suffer from relapse of Proteinuria and edema even their condition is controlled well in a period. This is because hormone and immunosuppressant are symptomatic treatment: they can only relieve the symptoms but can not repair the damages in the kidneys. Besides, long term use of these medicines can cause some side effects on the patients such as weight gain and figure change, decline of immunity, osteoporosis, joint pain etc. So patients ask if there is a treatment treating Nephrotic Syndrome from the root and without side effects.

(2) Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy: After many years of research, experts in Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital, China have worked out an innovative treatment method, Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy, which focuses on the symptoms of Nephrotic Syndrome as well as its root cause. The treatment focuses on repairing the damage in the glomeruli and adjusting the immune system of the patient. As the damage repairs and the immunity improves, the symptoms will get controlled naturally and the disease can be treated from the root. Micro-Chinese Medicine made by natural herbal medicines is used on the skin of the back around kidney areas by the help of effective penetrate and osmosis devices. When receive the treatment, the patient just needs to lie on the bed for 45 minutes and 3 times in a day. During the first several days, you can feel foams in urine decreases, edema relieves, urine volume increases, high blood pressure gets controlled, mental state and physical condition improve and so on.

(3) Stem Cell Transplant: Stem Cell Transplant is a new therapy for Nephrotic Syndrome when the patients' kidney function damages in some degree. The theory of stem cells in treating kidney disease: As stem cells have unlimited proliferation and multiple differentiation potential, and hematopoietic support, immune regulation, self-replication and other characteristics, they can be used as ideal seed cells to repair the changes of tissues and organs caused by pathological changes. Stem cells can differentiate into renal intrinsic cells and red blood cells to replace the dead ones in the kidneys. Therefore, Stem Cells Transplant Therapy has an excellent effect on repairing and rebuilding the renal functions.

At the above I have given an overall introduction to Nephrotic Syndrome, symptoms of Nephrotic Syndrome, causes of Nephrotic Syndrome, diagnosis of Nephrotic Syndrome and treatments of Nephrotic Syndrome. If you are a patient suffering from Nephrotic Syndrome and want to know more about your illness condition and the treatment, you can e-mail to nephrotic-syndrome@hotmail.com.

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