Chronic Kidney Disease - Causes and Risk Factors

Drawing on over 30 years of medical experience, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith has served patients at the StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut, since 2015. Dr. Rex Mahnensmith has experience treating a number of significant health conditions, including chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease, or chronic kidney failure, is the medical term used to describe the gradual loss of proper kidney function. Chronic kidney disease is a progressive condition that can culminate in a patient requiring life-saving kidney dialysis. While the effects of the disease can be mitigated and managed, particularly with early intervention, individuals should do everything in their power to maintain healthy kidney function.

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes represents one of the most common diseases that places excess stress on the kidneys. Other diseases that pose a similar threat include polycystic kidney disease, interstitial nephritis and glomerulonephritis, and vesicoureteral reflux. Physical injuries or conditions can also lead to chronic kidney disease, such as an extended blockage of the urinary tract.

Finally, a variety of risk factors can elevate a person’s chances of developing chronic kidney disease. In addition to diabetes, individuals living with cardiovascular disease are more likely to develop chronic kidney disease than those with regular blood pressure levels. Smoking, obesity, and advanced age are also risk factors.

Potential Symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease

Dr. Rex Mahnensmith joined the StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut, as an internal medicine physician in 2015. In this position, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith primarily diagnoses and treats patients living with chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), sometimes referred to as chronic kidney failure, is the gradual and consistent loss of proper kidney functions, a condition that can lead to dangerous levels of fluid, electrolyte, and waste build up throughout the body. Treatment of CKD involves identifying the cause of kidney failure and taking the appropriate steps to mitigate further damage.

In the early stages, symptoms and signs of CKD can be hard to pinpoint. As the disease progresses, individuals may experience any number of non-specific symptoms, including changes in sleeping patterns, impaired mental acuity, nausea and vomiting, and hypertension. Fluid build ups in certain parts of the body can trigger additional symptoms. For example, build ups around the lining of the heart can result in chest pain, while shortness of breath may indicate fluid build-ups in the lungs.

Individuals who feel they may be living with symptoms of kidney disease should reach out to a trusted medical professional for further testing.

Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease

As a physician and chief medical officer at the StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith draws on more than 40 years of clinical practice experience. Dr. Rex Mahnensmith served for 20 years as medical director of dialysis and clinical director of nephrology at the Yale Medical Group, through which he treated numerous patients with kidney disease.

The course of chronic kidney disease involves five stages, which differ based on the kidneys' level of function and the amount of protein in the urine. Clinicians determine the former by testing the glomerular filtration rate, or GFR, which is defined by the amount of blood that the nephrons of the kidney can filter per minute.

A person with mild symptoms of kidney disease but normal or better GFR (90 percent or greater kidney function) receives a classification of Stage 1, which suggests potential kidney damage but normal levels of kidney function. Stage 2 correlates with a reduced GFR and 89 to 60 percent kidney function.

As GFR drops and kidney function decreases, the patient progresses through Stages 3a, 3b, and 4. A patient with Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, also known as end-stage kidney disease, has complete or near-complete loss of function, to the degree that there is a dangerous accumulation of water and waste in the blood. This causes a variety of symptoms including headache, cognitive disturbances, digestive distress, and changes in skin color.

Patients who reach Stage 5 chronic kidney disease typically need intensive treatment in order to survive. This may take the form of dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Causes of Chronic Kidney Disease

A summa cum laude graduate of Denison University with a BS in biology, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith received his MD from the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) before fulfilling his internship and residency in internal medicine. An internist at StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith completed a fellowship in nephrology at YSM and has since focused on diagnosing and treating individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Also known as chronic kidney failure, CKD describes the gradual inability of the kidneys to filter excess fluid and waste from the body. While indicators of CKD might be limited in its nascent stages, they include the buildup of electrolytes, fluid, and waste to dangerous levels at an advanced stage, culminating in complications such as anemia, hypertension, nerve damage, and compromised nutrition and skeletal integrity.

A potential complication of CKD, hypertension is also one of the leading causes of the disease; indeed, along with diabetes, it accounts for approximately 65 percent of all cases. The third leading cause of CKD, glomerulonephritis refers to a constellation of disorders that inflame and damage the kidney’s filtering units. Similarly, chronic inflammation of the organ’s tubules and neighboring structures known as interstitial nephritis can also result in CKD.

Other causes of CKD include autoimmune and inherited diseases such as lupus and polycystic kidney disease, respectively. Pyelonephritis and various conditions resulting in protracted obstruction of the urinary tract have also been implicated in the etiology of CKD.