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Know About the Inherited Kidney Diseases!

By Dr. Yogesh Kumar Chhabra in Nephrology

Jan 17 , 2017 | 1 min read

Inherited and congenital kidney diseases often have poor prognosis and lead to end-stage renal disease. Kidney diseases that can be inherited can be divided into 5 major groups.

Cystic kidney diseases

These are congenital kidney diseases in which, multiple cysts appear in the one or both kidneys. These include:

  • Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
  • Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.
  • Nephronophthisis.
  • Medullary sponge kidney.
  • Associated with multiple malformation syndrome seen in tuberous sclerosis, Lowe's syndrome, etc

Alport's Syndrome

The major characteristic of this disease is the presence of blood in urine. People suffering from Alport’s also complain of hypertension from a very early age.

Bartter's syndrome

The disease is characterized by low potassium, magnesium and calcium levels in blood. Patients suffering from this syndrome have a blood ph of more than 7, leading to metabolic alkalosis.

  • Inherited metabolic diseases like diabetes mellitus, amyloidosis.
  • Others like immune glomerulonephritis or reflux nephropathy, haemolytic uraemic syndrome.

How will you detect inheritance of kidney diseases?

- Prenatal diagnosis of these diseases is now possible and they often appear in families with a history of renal disease.

- Urinalysis and imaging like ultrasound, CT and MRI scanning can also help with detecting the presence of structural malformations in the renal system.

- A Renal biopsy can also help in confirming which kind of renal disease has affected the kidney.

How can the disease be managed?

Early intervention with proper medical care can help manage the symptoms of inherited kidney diseases better. Most patients suffer from kidney failure by the age of 60 and often are recommended kidney transplantation. Working closely with a nephrologist will also help you to cope well with health complications associated with these diseases and avoid these at an early stage.