End-Stage Renal Disease Specialist
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Consultants in Kidney Diseases
Nephrology & Hypertension Specialists located in Hamilton, NJ
Having end-stage renal disease means your kidneys are working at less than 15% of their capacity. Zak Maniya, MD, FACP, and the board-certified nephrologists at Consultants in Kidney Diseases in Hamilton, New Jersey, work with local dialysis centers to deliver life-saving care for patients experiencing end-stage renal disease. They also support patients through the kidney transplant process. To find out how you can overcome end-stage renal disease, call Consultants in Kidney Diseases today or book an appointment online.
End-Stage Renal Disease Q & A
What is end-stage renal disease?
End-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, is advanced chronic kidney disease. When you reach end-stage renal disease, your kidneys are unable to function as they should. Without treatment, the condition is life-threatening.
Kidneys are essential organs that filter waste products and remove excess fluid from the blood. You pass these as urine. If your kidneys can't filter the blood well enough, fluid and substances like sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate can build up to dangerous levels in your body.
Kidney disease has five stages. Your provider at Consultants in Kidney Diseases determines which stage you have with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) blood test.
GFR measures the volume of blood your kidneys filter in milliliters per minute (mL/min). The lower your GFR, the worse your kidney function.
If you reach stage 5 kidney disease, where your GFR is below 15 mL/min, you have end-stage renal disease.
What are the symptoms of end-stage renal disease?
End-stage renal disease can cause symptoms such as:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Weakness and fatigue
- Changes in urine volume and frequency of urination
- Swelling (edema) in the feet and ankles
- Headaches
- Problems sleeping
- Cognitive decline
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Muscle cramps and twitches
- Persistent itchiness
- Metallic taste in your mouth
If fluid builds up in your lungs, you might experience shortness of breath. Fluid around the lining of your heart can cause chest pain.
These symptoms could be due to other conditions, so there's no easy way of spotting kidney disease. Furthermore, your kidneys are good at compensating for their loss of function, so you may not experience many symptoms until the organs have suffered irreversible damage.
How is end-stage renal disease treated?
There are several ways to treat end-stage renal disease:
Kidney transplant
Kidney transplant surgery replaces your failed kidney with a healthy kidney from a donor. A kidney transplant can be transformative, but it’s a lengthy, complex process. You need to be a suitable candidate for transplant surgery and have a donor kidney available that matches yours.
Dialysis
Dialysis is a procedure you regularly undergo to clean your blood artificially when you have end-stage renal disease. Dialysis removes fluids and waste from your blood, balances your electrolyte levels, and helps keep your blood pressure under control.
Dialysis options include hemodialysis, which takes place at a dialysis clinic or hospital, or peritoneal dialysis that you do at home.
If you're at risk of kidney disease or experiencing symptoms of end-stage renal disease, call Consultants in Kidney Diseases today or book an appointment online.