March 17, 2010

Kidney Disease During Pregnancy

Posted in Category : Women's Health

Millions of people worldwide are affected with kidney diseases but the good news is that these can be taken care of if diagnosed and treated properly. Kidneys are an important organ in the body and perform vital functions for smooth functioning of the body like extracting waste from the body, producing hormones, maintaining water and mineral levels and so on. Therefore, any disease relating to the kidney must be treated immediately as it may prove fatal. The leading causes for any kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Glomerular diseases, polycystic kidney disease and nephritis are some of the kidney diseases that you can get affected with. If you are pregnant or planning for a baby it is important to check with your doctor for the symptoms as the complications in pregnancy will depend upon the severity of the kidney disease. Pregnant women suffering from kidney diseases need to be very careful as it can lead to serious health implications not only for the mother but also for the baby. Women with mild kidney diseases are more likely to have a successful pregnancy but a chronic kidney disease can complicate a number of pregnancies. This is because the strain of pregnancy on the body along with a severe kidney disease might lead to severe complications. Your body, therefore, will have to work extra hard in order to sustain both you and your baby. The risk factors for pregnant woman suffering from a renal disease are hypertension, preeclampsia, miscarriage, premature labor, great risk of urinary tract infection and acute renal failure.

It is important that you consult a specialist to know what the risk factors are as these would depend upon the severity of the disease. Monitoring of blood sugar and renal function should constantly be under check where blood pressure should be checked every one to two weeks and renal function once a month. Patients should be very closely monitored for any signs of preeclampsia especially in the third trimester. Along with following all the above mentioned steps it is important to ensure a proper and balanced diet with moderate sodium and protein content. Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and fruit juices. Blood pressure has to be maintained at a level where the risk factor is low. Fluid retention is important in such cases hence it is advised that you consume a lot of fluids and keep well hydrated.