Kidney Disease and High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (hypertension) is a leading cause of kidney disease and kidney failure (end-stage renal disease).

Hypertension can cause damage to the blood vessels and filters in the kidney, making removal of waste from the body difficult. Once a person is diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, dialysis -- a blood-cleansing process -- or kidney transplantation are necessary.

Kidney disease is a term that describes any problems you may have when your kidneys are not working as well as they should. Your kidneys help to filter your blood to remove unwanted waste products. Depending on how severe it is, the effects of kidney disease can be minor. But if you do not take steps to control it, it can cause serious health problems.

How healthy your kidneys are can affect your blood pressure, and vice versa. This means that if you have high blood pressure, then you are more likely to have kidney disease. Likewise, if you have kidney disease, this can sometimes cause high blood pressure.

The biggest health risk for people with kidney disease is not actually kidney failure. People with kidney disease are much more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke. So if you have kidney disease you need to keep your heart and blood vessels healthy. Controlling your blood pressure is a very important way to do this.

If you have been diagnosed with kidney disease, we're here to help. Email us: doctorbruceonline@gmail.com (Monday through Sunday) to make an appointment.

The way that high blood pressure affects your kidneys is this damage done by the extra force against the little arteries that interface with the tiny filtering units in the kidney. These little filtering units are called nephrons. Nephrons are damaged by years of stress and over time their efficiency and function decrease. Chronic kidney disease results in increased protein being passed in your urine and increased creatinine building up in your blood. Chronic kidney disease as the result of high blood pressure is the top cause of kidney failure. When your kidneys fail you must go on dialysis or get a kidney transplant in order to survive. It is just a whole lot easier to control the blood pressure early than it is to deal with kidney failure.