Stage 4 Kidney Disease Life Expectancy

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High blood pressure (hypertension)! Both hypertension and kidney disease can cause vicious cycle to your heart health.

Hypertension is one of common causes for kidney damage. And when the damage has occurred, this makes hypertension more likely to get worse.

The same goes for your heart health. When you have kidney problem, you’re at high risk of heart problem – and vice versa! So maintaining your kidney health is also important to keep your heart healthy.

High blood sugar (diabetes)! We all know that diabetes is the leading cause for kidney failure. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to find diabetes in people with kidney disease.

Like hypertension, high blood sugar level can hurt the heart and blood vessels. This is particularly true if the level is poorly controlled.

High cholesterol! Excess buildup of fatty deposits can clog arteries, including renal arteries. The buildup may also clog arteries close to the heart, resulting in a heart attack.

Lower-cholesterol medications may be prescribed if your LDL (bad cholesterol) is higher than normal. Lifestyle measures (e.g. changes in diet) would also help a lot.

Anemia! The kidneys play a role to release EPO (erythropoietin, an important hormone that regulates red blood cells production in the body). The production of this hormone decreases as the damage of the kidney becomes advanced. As a result, you’re at high risk of developing anemia.

Low count of red blood cells is common in people with kidney disease. Even it may have occurred at early course of the disease – and likely to get worse in time as your kidneys fail to produce enough EPO.

Anemia can affect the oxygen flow throughout the body. It makes low oxygen in the circulation, causing your heart work harder. This would seriously damage the heart over the long run.

Cigarette smoking! Kidney disease is quite common in smokers. Smoking can contribute to worsen the progression of chronic kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And as well we know, tobacco smoke also hurts nearly every organ of our body including the heart. It can drive blood vessel inflammation more likely. Consequently, you’re relatively easier to develop clots in your arteries.

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Stage 4 kidney disease is very crucial phase before kidney failure. Patients at this stage are likely to need dialysis or kidney transplantation in the near future. So following your treatment plan comprehensively is a must to reduce the risk of this failure and other serious complications.