Basic Treatment Methods for Kidney Disease to Restore Health and Slow Kidney Deterioration

Currently, Thai people are increasingly suffering from chronic kidney disease at a rapid rate. If kidney deterioration cannot be slowed, these individuals will progress to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), which requires dialysis and kidney transplantation in various nephrology institutes, involving complex procedures and very high costs.

This article compiles 5 basic methods to prevent and slow kidney deterioration, so that people who want to stay away from disease can delay kidney degeneration as much as possible. But how to reduce kidney values or how to take care of kidneys to keep them strong—these can be read here!

Key Takeaways

• Methods to care for and prevent kidneys from deteriorating more slowly can begin with eating beneficial foods, drinking sufficient water to help eliminate toxins, exercising regularly, avoiding excessive use of anti-inflammatory pain medications, and controlling coexisting conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and gout to remain normal.

What causes kidney disease?

Before knowing the basic methods to prevent kidney disease, one must first know what causes kidney disease. Kidney disease can occur from many factors, whether lifestyle behaviors, genetic inheritance such as Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), including factors from other diseases that affect the kidneys such as diabetes, high blood pressure, urinary tract obstruction, glomerulonephritis, gout, or kidney stones.

In addition, long-term continuous use of NSAIDs or consumption of certain herbal medicines can make the kidneys workหนัก, leading to chronic kidney disease. Therefore, more caution should be taken when using medications or herbal remedies if one does not want kidney disease to worsen quickly.

Signs of kidney disease: what symptoms should be monitored?

Patients in the early stage of kidney disease may not show symptoms, so many people are often unaware. But as kidney function gradually declines, patients may observe more symptoms such as decreased urination, painful urination, abnormally foamy urine, anemia, development of high blood pressure, facial swelling, leg swelling, with clear pitting when pressing on the shin. Additionally, there may be itching, nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite.

If one does not want the disease to progress to a severe stage, regular health check-ups should be done for screening, and correct basic methods for preventing kidney disease should be learned in order to delay progression to end-stage chronic kidney disease for as long as possible.

5 basic methods to prevent kidney disease and reduce the risk of rapid deterioration

Basic methods to prevent kidney disease in order to slow kidney function from declining too quickly require adjusting behaviors to be more appropriate, as follows:

1. Strict dietary control

Methods to prevent kidney disease and slow kidney deterioration require strict dietary control. Always read nutrition labels before eating. Food for kidney disease patients should be arranged to provide complete nutrients, reduce sweetness, fat, and salt. In one day, sugar intake should not exceed 6 teaspoons, salt not more than 1 teaspoon, and oil not more than 6 teaspoons.

For patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3–5, protein intake should be limited per day. Patients should consume no more than 0.8–1.0 grams of protein per 1 kilogram of body weight. For end-stage chronic kidney disease patients undergoing dialysis, protein intake should be 1.2–1.5 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight, and water intake should follow the doctor’s recommendations.

Foods to avoid include those high in saturated fat, fatty meats, processed foods, fermented foods, and foods high in phosphorus such as milk, organ meats, beans, soft drinks, tea, and coffee, as these increase kidney workload.

2. Maintain health and control coexisting diseases to be normal

Chronic kidney disease may result from other diseases such as diabetic nephropathy, hypertension, gout, or pyelonephritis. To care for kidneys and slow deterioration, one should receive treatment and consistently control coexisting conditions within normal ranges, such as maintaining blood glucose levels at 70–110 mg/dL, keeping blood pressure at approximately not more than 130/80 mmHg, or taking antibiotics to eliminate bacterial infection in patients with pyelonephritis.

3. Exercise to strengthen overall health

To prevent kidney deterioration and strengthen health, patients should exercise at least 3–5 days per week, 30–45 minutes per session, depending on physical condition. Emphasis should be on moderate exercise that does not cause excessive fatigue, to stimulate metabolism to function efficiently, reduce the risk of obesity, help control blood pressure, and reduce blood sugar levels to normal ranges, resulting in slower kidney deterioration.

4. Be more cautious with medication use

Patients should use all medications with caution, choose medications according to indications, and always consult a doctor to increase safety. Medications that patients with impaired kidney function should be cautious about include NSAIDs such as Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, and Piroxicam, because long-term continuous use can cause abnormal renal blood flow, leading to acute kidney failure.

In addition, unregulated traditional medicines or unidentified pill formulations sold in the market should not be used, as they may contain heavy metals and steroids. When accumulated over time, these substances damage kidney tissue and eventually lead to chronic kidney disease.

5. Permanently stop smoking

Quitting smoking is an important basic method to prevent kidney disease, as smoking increases the risk of kidney failure deterioration by 60% compared to non-smokers. The harmful effects of smoking include causing high blood pressure. If the smoker already has hypertension, it accelerates the development of hypertensive nephrosclerosis, or kidney deterioration from high blood pressure. For people with diabetes, it may also cause faster kidney deterioration than normal.

Moreover, smoking is also a factor that increases protein leakage in urine, increasing the risk of renal cell carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. Therefore, smoking cessation in kidney disease patients is important to help slow kidney deterioration.

Basic kidney disease prevention methods: simple tips to delay progression to end-stage chronic kidney disease

Kidney disease affects the quality of life of patients in many aspects and requires high costs for treatment. Therefore, attention should be paid to health care, and regular annual health check-ups should be performed. If the disease can be detected early, patients will receive correct medical treatment and learn basic methods for treating kidney disease, which can be applied to adjust their lifestyle appropriately from an early stage.

This will help prevent severe kidney damage leading to chronic kidney failure or slow kidney deterioration, delaying progression to end-stage chronic kidney disease that requires kidney transplantation surgery or lifelong dialysis.

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Frequently Asked Questions about basic kidney disease treatment methods

1. Can kidneys recover by themselves?

Chronic kidney failure is a condition that cannot be completely cured because kidney tissue has been damaged over a long period until fibrosis occurs. Following basic prevention and treatment methods can only slow deterioration. When the disease progresses to the final stage, lifelong dialysis is required. However, in cases of acute kidney failure that receive proper and appropriate treatment, it may be completely cured and kidney function can return to normal.

2. Does eating salty food really increase the risk of kidney disease?

Salty taste does increase the risk of kidney disease, but it is not entirely the correct answer. The real cause is sodium, which is hidden in many types of food such as seasonings, dipping sauces, snacks, processed foods, semi-prepared foods, and monosodium glutamate. Excessive sodium consumption makes the kidneys work harder and increases sodium accumulation in the blood, leading to kidney deterioration. Therefore, basic prevention of kidney disease requires limiting sodium intake to no more than 2,000 milligrams per day.

References

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). (2023, September 11). National Kidney Foundation. https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd

7 Golden Rules of Kidney Disease Prevention. (n.d.). National Kidney Foundation. https://www.kidney.org/7-golden-rules-kidney-disease-prevention

Preventing Chronic Kidney Disease. (2016). National Institutes of Health. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/prevention