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Acute glomerulonephritis
Is acute nephritis serious?
Acute nephritis is commonly seen in children, predominantly affecting male children. Often before the onset, there's a history of upper respiratory tract infection or skin infection. One to three weeks after these infections, patients may develop hematuria, swelling of the eyelids and lower extremities, and increased urinary protein. The severity of acute glomerulonephritis can vary; patients with milder forms of acute glomerulonephritis can be cured through appropriate treatment and standardized medication. However, if acute glomerulonephritis is not detected timely and treated properly, it can lead to severe complications, including uremia, heart failure, hypertensive encephalopathy, and other clinical manifestations. Therefore, acute nephritis must be taken seriously to avoid severe complications. Of course, with proper treatment, most patients with acute nephritis can fully recover and have a good prognosis.
acute nephritis symptoms
Acute nephritis is commonly seen in children and occurs more in males than females. It typically begins one to three weeks after an infection, mainly due to a post-streptococcal infection. The main symptom of acute nephritis is the appearance of edema, which is often an initial manifestation. Typically, this includes swelling of the eyelids in the morning, sometimes accompanied by mild swelling of the lower limbs. In addition, a urinalysis of patients might reveal blood, which can appear as either gross hematuria or microscopic hematuria. Furthermore, some patients with acute nephritis may also experience elevated blood pressure, primarily related to the edema. If managed through diuretic treatment, conditions may gradually return to normal. In severe cases of acute nephritis, symptoms can include dizziness, hypertensive encephalopathy, and even reduced urine output leading to acute kidney failure. Therefore, it is crucial to give significant attention to patients with acute nephritis and treat them actively to avoid severe complications.
How to treat acute nephritis?
Acute nephritis is commonly seen in children and is a frequent type of glomerular disease in this group. Typically, one to three weeks prior to the onset, there often is a history of upper respiratory tract infection or skin infection. Subsequently, within one to three weeks, patients may experience gross hematuria and eyelid edema. In severe cases, elevated blood pressure and renal dysfunction may occur. Currently, there are no especially effective treatments for acute nephritis. However, if diagnosed properly and treated timely, the cure rate for acute nephritis is very high. Specifically, during the acute phase of acute nephritis, patients should rest in bed, follow a light diet, and adjust water intake based on urine output. Additionally, if patients with acute nephritis also have a respiratory infection, antibiotics should be administered, generally with penicillin as the first choice. Of course, if patients with acute nephritis have significant edema or markedly elevated blood pressure, it is appropriate to use diuretics and antihypertensive medications to avoid complications like hypertensive encephalopathy and heart failure. If some patients with acute nephritis also develop acute renal failure, timely dialysis treatment should be administered to improve the prognosis of acute nephritis and enhance the effectiveness of treatment.
Can acute nephritis patients eat red dates?
In cases of acute nephritis, it is recommended that patients avoid eating red dates. During the acute phase of acute nephritis, there is severe inflammatory reaction in the glomeruli of the patient, and the extensive cellular proliferation may affect the filtration barrier of the glomeruli. If the glomeruli cannot filter blood, it leads to the accumulation of metabolic waste in the body, reduced urine output, and also affects the regulation of electrolytes and acid-base balance. Therefore, patients with acute nephritis may experience kidney failure and hyperkalemia, among other issues. Red dates contain a high amount of potassium ions, making them a high-potassium food, especially dried dates, which are even richer in potassium ions. Therefore, in cases of acute nephritis, especially if the patient has renal failure, it is advised to avoid eating red dates.
Principles of Acute Nephritis Treatment
The treatment of acute nephritis mainly involves managing the complications of acute nephritis, because acute nephritis itself can potentially heal automatically. The inflammatory reaction in the glomeruli can naturally subside, and proteinuria can decrease, kidney function can recover. However, acute nephritis may cause some complications that could be life-threatening to the patient. Therefore, treatment should focus on these complications to help the patient overcome difficulties, and then wait for the acute nephritis to heal automatically. Common complications mainly include heart failure, high blood pressure, pulmonary infections, etc. Thus, if a patient experiences heart failure, diuretics or even dialysis may be needed, and if an infection occurs, a full course of antibiotics is necessary for anti-inflammatory treatment.
Is acute nephritis contagious?
Acute nephritis is not contagious. Although acute nephritis often follows a history of streptococcal infection, when such streptococci infect the human body, they can cause an immune complex reaction, which circulates through the bloodstream to the kidneys causing inflammation. Furthermore, these streptococci can have a cross-immune reaction with kidney tissue. These mechanisms together lead to diffuse proliferation of glomerular capillary cells, causing hematuria, proteinuria, and even renal failure. However, this condition generally is not contagious. Although this disease is related to streptococcal infection, these streptococci are mostly opportunistic pathogens and are unlikely to cause harm to people other than the patient, making it difficult to trigger a nephritis reaction again.
Does acute nephritis easily lead to excessive internal heat?
What is referred to as "getting heated" generally refers to the appearance of herpes around the mouth. In fact, most people carry the herpes virus, which typically does not flare up under normal circumstances. However, when the body's immune system is weakened, the virus can become active. For example, factors like long-term fatigue, lack of sleep, or other illnesses can lead to the reemergence of these sores. They can also appear during acute nephritis, as this condition involves kidney abnormalities or possible symptoms like blood and protein in the urine. Some patients may also experience reduced urine output and acute kidney failure. During acute kidney failure, the immune system is often weakened, which can lead to the reappearance of herpes around the mouth, commonly known as "getting heated."
How long does hematuria last in acute nephritis?
The condition of acute nephritis is generally quite severe. Patients may experience hematuria and proteinuria, with diffuse cellular proliferation in the glomeruli. However, this disease is self-limiting, and the condition can heal on its own. It is important to control the causes of acute nephritis and the complications it may cause to help patients overcome the difficulties. Afterward, the patients' hematuria and proteinuria could potentially disappear. Generally, it takes about 3 to 4 weeks for the urinalysis to turn negative, and some patients may even take up to six months to recover. If recovery takes more than six months, it is possible that the patient's acute nephritis has become chronic nephritis.
Symptoms of acute nephritis recurrence
When acute nephritis recurs, patients may experience a series of symptoms similar to those at the onset of the disease. Patients may present with hematuria, including visible hematuria in some cases. Due to the presence of a significant amount of protein in the urine, patients may develop edema in parts like the lower limbs and eyelids, and in severe cases, edema can become generalized. The presence of protein in urine also leads to increased urine foam. Some patients may experience acute renal failure, a dramatic decrease in urine output, and gastrointestinal reactions such as nausea and vomiting. Patients may also develop hypertension and heart failure, among other conditions.
Sequelae of acute nephritis
Most cases of acute nephritis do not cause complications; generally speaking, acute nephritis is a self-healing disease that can recover on its own. Approximately three to four weeks later, the condition can gradually alleviate, with the patient’s urine protein and occult blood decreasing until they disappear and kidney function returns to normal, and the edema can also subside, so generally there won’t be any complications. However, there are a minority of patients whose conditions are prolonged and do not heal, and if the patient's condition persists for three months or even half a year without recovery, it might evolve into chronic nephritis. Also, some patients may experience severe kidney failure, heart failure, and pulmonary infections during acute nephritis, leading to severe consequences. The likelihood of these situations occurring is relatively low.