26^thEuropean Nephrology Conference

Glomerular Diseases

Many diseases affect kidney function by offensive the glomeruli, the tiny units within the kidney where blood is cleaned. Glomerular diseases comprise many conditions with a variety of genetic and environmental causes, but they fall into two major categories.

Glomerular diseases damage the glomeruli, allowing protein and sometimes red blood cells drip into the urine. Sometimes a glomerular disease also hinders with the clearance of waste products by the kidney, so they begin to build up in the blood. Furthermore, loss of blood proteins like albumin in the urine can outcome in a fall in their level in the bloodstream. In normal blood, albumin acts like a sponge, drawing extra fluid from the body into the bloodstream, where it residues until the kidneys remove it. But when albumin leaks into the urine, the blood loses its capacity to engross extra fluid from the body. Fluid can accumulate outside the cardiovascular system in the face, hands, feet, or ankles and cause swelling.

Glomerular disease sometimes develops rapidly after an infection in other parts of the body.