Chronic Kidney Disease is a progressive irreversible loss of kidney function over an extended period of time. It can be due to the presence of kidney damage or decreased glomerular filtration rate (Lewis). Kidney function is regulated though glomerular filtration rate (GFR). GFR gradually decreases due to nephrons being destroyed. Nephrons left intact are subjected to an increased workload, resulting in hypertrophy and inability to concentrate urine. Typically GFR in chronic kidney disease is less than 60 mL per minute lasting longer than 3 months. Leading causes of Chronic Kidney disease includes systemic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and disease of the renal system which consists of glomerulonephritis, chronic pyelonephritis, obstructive …show more content…
These nephrons filter out and remove waste products and extra fluid from the blood and discharge them through urine (Lewis ). If a nephron gets damaged it is not able to function anymore. Kidneys are equipped to adapt to the loss of nephron mass. It is until 25% of renal function is declined and the number of nonfunctioning nephrons is greater than functioning nephrons that adaptive renal reserves are exhausted and symptomatic changes are apparent (Zerwek. Symptomatic changes that can be seen in CKD patients are increased levels of creatinine, urea, and potassium and alterations in salt and water balance. This accounts for the accumulation of waste products that lead to further serious irreversible complications Chronic kidney disease consists of 5 stages. Each stage can be differentiated by the GFR. In stage 1 the GRF is increased greatly being 90 mL per minute or more and can also be noted with having kidney damage. In stage 2 the kidney damage is still seen but differs in stage 1 in that that there is a mild decrease in GFR by 60-89 mL per minute. In stage 3 there is a moderate decrease in GFR by 30-59 mL per minute. In stage 4 there is a severe drop in GFR making it 15-29 mL per minute. Lastly in stage 5 kidney failure is pronounced in which the GRF is less than 15 mL per