What is Cirrhosis of The Kidneys?
Cirrhosis of the kidneys is a chronic liver disease that can occur independently or as a complication of another disorder. With cirrhosis, normal kidney function often becomes impaired over time. While there are no specific symptoms, you may have polycystic kidneys, blood in your urine, high levels of protein in your urine, and swelling in various parts of your body.
The condition is life-threatening if left untreated. Treatment focuses on managing underlying illnesses that may be causing the state and on preventing complications.
What causes cirrhosis of the kidneys?
The exact cause is unknown. When you have kidney damage, your kidneys try to heal themselves by forming small collections of tissue called cysts. These cysts are usually harmless and disappear after a few weeks. In some cases, they don’t go away and can become more significant if left untreated. The cysts may develop into a more severe condition called polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
PKD can lead to bleeding in the urine or high blood pressure, which may eventually cause irreversible damage to your kidneys. About half of all people diagnosed with PKD also have liver problems caused by scarring. People who abuse alcohol for ten years or longer appear most at risk for either condition. The risk of developing PKD is also higher if other family members have it.
Cirrhosis can cause kidney problems in other ways, too. For example, long-term vomiting or diarrhea may lead to dehydration and the buildup of wastes in your blood that may cause kidney damage.
Additionally, certain complications of cirrhosis, such as severe bacterial infections, low platelet counts (as occurs with portal hypertension), or blocked veins between the stomach and the liver (called varices), are more likely to affect your kidneys over time.
How common is cirrhosis?
Cirrhosis is a reasonably common liver disease. It is the 12th leading cause of death in the United States and affects more than 26,000 Americans each year.
What are the symptoms?
The most common symptoms of cirrhosis include:
• Loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss
• Fatigue and weakness
• Itching
• Nausea
• Swelling in the legs and abdomen, or fluid retention (edema)
• Unexplained bleeding
• Dark-colored urine
What is the treatment?
There is currently no cure for chronic liver disease. Treatment focuses on managing your current condition as well as preventing future complications. Your doctor will recommend steps to slow down the progression of your illness and relieve related symptoms such as itching.
You may need to see a dietician if you find it challenging to eat enough food to maintain good nutrition. If kidney damage has occurred, you may be referred to a nephrologist (a doctor specializing in kidneys). Treatment for cirrhosis-related kidney problems may include:
• A special diet to reduce protein loss in the urine
• Medication that decreases uric acid levels in your blood
• Hydration therapies to manage swelling and fluid retention (edema)
• Dialysis if necessary
If you have PKD, your doctor may recommend testing for signs of kidney failure and high blood pressure. If you show these symptoms, your doctor will also treat them as they occur.
Although there is no cure for liver cirrhosis, several treatments can slow its progression and reduce complications. Depending on your treatment needs, your healthcare provider may suggest:
• Nutritional counseling to help improve appetite and maintain good nutrition
• Medication that helps reduce swelling in your abdomen and build muscle mass
• Treatments for complications such as fluid retention (edema), bleeding problems, and infection
Relationship between liver and kidney function:
The liver is the main organ responsible for producing bile. Bile is a fluid used to break down fats, so they are easier to absorb. The liver also makes proteins that help with blood clotting. The kidneys filter wastes and extra water from the blood (blood vessels) into the urine (ducts). The kidneys also produce a hormone that helps maintain bone strength.
Kidneys remove wastes from the body and play a vital role in maintaining water balance in the body. These wastes include urea, uric acid, creatinine, and ammonia. Many chemical reactions are going on in our bodies that make these wastes. The liver plays a secondary role in removing waste by breaking down some chemicals into harmless substances before leaving the body in the urine.
The liver is significant for helping us process medicines and other harmful substances we may ingest or breathe into our lungs. Also, when your kidneys do not work correctly, your liver has to take over most of its function to help cleanse your blood’s excess fluid volume (water).
The liver also takes over for the kidneys. For example, when your blood pressure is low or too high, your kidneys release a hormone called renin which creates angiotensin II. Angiotensin II then stimulates vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels). Vasoconstriction increases blood pressure by reducing the amount of fluid lost in the urine.
This makes it harder for your body to remove extra fluids. A healthy liver can compensate for this fluid loss by producing more bile to help digest fats and absorb fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E, and K, usually excreted into the bile. So overall, there is no direct relationship between liver and kidney function, but one regulates the other.
How does liver disease cause renal failure:
When cirrhosis occurs, the liver is unable to make enough bile. This can interfere with fat digestion and cause problems for people who eat a high-fat diet because they will not absorb all of their food nutrients. Liver failure can also interfere with blood clotting. Most people die from liver disease due to multiple organ failure, which usually means kidney failure.
The primary way this happens is when proteins that are generally cleared by the kidneys due to their size or electrical charge get passed into circulation instead. When these “toxins” circulate in your body, they affect different organs differently depending on the specific toxin and the function of each organ system.
For instance, circulating ammonia causes neurological symptoms. Circulating manganese causes parkinsonism. If toxins are circulating in the blood, the kidneys are one of the first organs to be affected by their accumulation as they filter such things from your blood. If you lose this function, the toxins remain in your body and damage your other organs like your brain and heart.
kidney cirrhosis treatment:
The treatment for kidney disease due primarily to cirrhosis is focused mainly on managing the specific cause of liver failure. For instance, supplemental bile salts may be necessary if you cannot make bile (cholestatic). If you have blood clotting problems (coagulation) or experience excess bleeding, sometimes plasma exchanges need to provide clotting factors.
kidney function:
Kidneys remove wastes from the body and play a vital role in maintaining water balance in the body. These wastes include urea, uric acid, creatinine, and ammonia. Many chemical reactions are going on in our bodies that make these wastes.
The liver plays a secondary role in removing waste by breaking down some chemicals into harmless substances before leaving the body in the urine.
The liver is significant for helping us process medicines and other harmful substances we may ingest or breathe into our lungs. Also, when your kidneys do not work correctly, your liver has to take over most of its function to help cleanse your blood’s excess fluid volume (water).
The liver also takes over for the kidneys. For example, when your blood pressure is low or too high, your kidneys release a hormone called renin which creates angiotensin II. Angiotensin II then stimulates vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels). Vasoconstriction increases blood pressure by reducing the amount of fluid lost in the urine.
This makes it harder for your body to remove extra fluids. A healthy liver can compensate for this fluid loss by producing more bile to help digest fats and absorb fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, D, E, and K, usually excreted into the bile. So overall, there is no direct relationship between liver and kidney function, but one regulates the other.
kidney cirrhosis causes:
Cirrhosis of the liver is caused by long-term damage to your liver cells. This damage changes the structure of the liver and makes it less able to perform its many essential functions.
It can be a consequence of severe alcohol abuse over some years, where the healthy tissue is gradually damaged and replaced by scar tissue. It can also be caused by chronic viral hepatitis infection (for example from Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C), immune disorders that affect how you process chemicals in your blood, autoimmune diseases that cause inflammation, drug use including some prescribed medicines, some metabolic conditions such as Wilson’s disease which causes too much copper to accumulate in your body and genetic factors that make you more to developing cirrhosis if exposed to poisonous substances.
kidney function test:
A kidney function test measures how well your kidneys are working by checking the creatinine, urea, or uric acid level in your blood, which shows how much fluid and waste has been removed from the body. It also helps to detect the presence of protein in the urine that may indicate damage to kidney filters.
Many medical conditions can cause either elevated concentration or reduced concentration of these substances in the blood without causing any damage to kidneys; therefore, based on values, an assessment can be made for signs of healthy kidneys.