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A person with kidney disease symptoms, including muscle cramps, nausea, puffy eyes, swelling in the ankles, and excessive chemical levels in the blood or urine, can indicate kidney problems such as kidney stones, inflammation, or infection.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious medical condition that can happen within a few hours or a few days. It leads to a build-up of waste products in your blood. This happens because your kidneys are not able to keep the right balance of fluid in your body. This condition can affect other organs like the brain, heart and lungs. This is a common condition seen in hospitalized patients, especially those in intensive care units. It is also more common in older adults.
Now a new study has looked into why intracerebral hemorrhage patients suffer from acute kidney injury. This increases mortality rates of such patients significantly. Researchers say that patients who suffer an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) face an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) during their hospitalization. AKI can lead to sudden kidney failure, kidney damage or even death. Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care have determined which ICH patients are at the highest risk for this kidney injury so doctors can take precautions to prevent it. They also examined how the commonly-used blood pressure lowering drug nicardipine contributes to AKI.
According to researchers, over the past five years, clinicians have been concerned about AKI as they see patients who present with ICH, then develop kidney failure and require dialysis. However, they admit that a more global body approach is needed to improve the outcome of patients with ICH, rather than just focusing on the brain. They analyzed data from a multicenter trial in which 1,000 ICH patients with systolic blood pressure above 180 to either intensive (110-139 mm Hg) blood pressure reduction or standard (140-179 mm Hg) reduction within 4.5 hours after symptoms started. Researchers identified AKI by taking creatinine blood samples -- which show how well the kidneys are functioning -- from each patient for three days. They found that 15 per cent of all patients developed AKI.
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Symptoms of acute kidney injury often depends on the cause. You may experience swelling of your legs, especially the ankles. Eye puffiness is also another symptom of this condition. Fatigue, shortness of breath, confusion, nausea and chest pain are common. You may experience decreased urination and, in severe cases, it can lead to seizures and even coma.
Researchers say that higher doses of nicardipine were linked to an increased risk for AKI. They also saw that a higher baseline serum creatinine level was associated with a greater risk for AKI. In addition, those with AKI were nearly three times more likely to die within three months of diagnosis. Even the initial set of labs seem to have predictive value in who will develop AKI. This study highlights the values doctors can use to actually determine who may be at risk. What is generally thought of as an isolated brain disease, is not necessarily the case.
Researchers believe that the next step in preventing acute kidney injury after intracerebral hemorrhage is to use serum creatinine and other markers to identify high-risk patients, then use proactive measures to carefully manage intravenous fluids and avoid medications that are more likely to cause or worsen AKI.
(With inputs from Agencies)