Kidney Disease Care & Prevention Specialist

What is kidney disease care?

There are two aspects to kidney disease care — preventing kidney disease and managing the condition if you develop it.

The experts at Consultants in Kidney Diseases have many years of experience in kidney disease care and prevention. They can help you optimize your well-being and take the best possible care of your kidneys.

How do I prevent kidney disease?

You can help prevent chronic kidney disease (CKD) in several ways:

Managing risk factors

If you have any risk factors for kidney disease, your Consultants in Kidney Diseases provider can help you manage them. Risk factors include:

• Family history of kidney disease
• Abnormal kidney structure
• Diabetes
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Heart disease
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Older age
• Using medications that can damage kidneys

Your risk of kidney disease is also higher if you're Black, Asian American, or Native American.

Some of these risks are ones you can't control, such as your age and ethnicity. However, it's important to know that your risk is higher. Other factors like smoking and obesity are risks you can reduce with the appropriate lifestyle changes.

Screening

If you're at risk of developing kidney disease, see your provider at Consultants in Kidney Diseases regularly for screening tests. They can monitor your blood pressure, measure the albumin levels in your urine for proteinuria, and check the creatinine levels in your blood. 

These tests detect any changes that indicate your kidneys aren't functioning properly.

What does kidney disease care involve after a diagnosis?

If you receive a diagnosis of kidney disease, your provider at Consultants in Kidney Diseases can advise you on the kidney disease care you need. But there are habits that most patients could benefit from, such as:

• Taking your medications as directed
• Keeping your blood pressure below 140/90 (or the target your doctor sets)
• Monitoring your blood sugar
• Lowering your cholesterol
• Eating less salt
• Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption
• Adopting a kidney-healthy eating plan

You should avoid certain medications when you have kidney disease, including over-the-counter pain medicines like ibuprofen and naproxen, certain antibiotics, some herbal supplements, and the dyes used in X-rays and other imaging tests. 

Your provider at Consultants in Kidney Diseases tells you exactly what to avoid.

These steps can help you prevent the onset of kidney disease and slow its progression. If your condition reaches a critical point like end-stage renal failure, the Consultants in Kidney Diseases team provides exceptional kidney disease care to improve your quality of life when on dialysis.

For more information on kidney disease care or to arrange a screening, call Consultants in Kidney Diseases today or book an appointment online.