Chronic Kidney Disease is a gradual, lasting loss of kidney function present for more than three months. It is graded in five stages using eGFR and urine protein. CKD usually causes no symptoms until advanced, so it is detected through blood and urine tests. Early treatment can slow or halt progression and delay dialysis.
Conditions
Kidney conditions treated in Ahmedabad
Kidney conditions treated by Dr. Pritish Shah, Senior Consultant Nephrologist at Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad. Each page explains what the condition actually is, how it is diagnosed, how it is treated today, and when it warrants seeing a specialist — written to be understood, not to impress.
Long-term kidney disease
Diabetic kidney disease is kidney damage caused by long-standing high blood sugar, and it is the single largest cause of kidney failure in India. Its first sign is small amounts of albumin in urine, which appear years before creatinine rises. Detected at that stage, progression can often be substantially slowed.
Sustained high blood pressure damages the small vessels that supply the kidney's filters, causing scarring and gradual loss of function. The relationship runs both ways: kidney disease also raises blood pressure. Because both are silent, the damage is usually well advanced before symptoms appear.
Kidney disease can be detected years before symptoms appear using just two inexpensive tests: a blood test for eGFR and a urine test for albumin. Anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of kidney disease, obesity, or aged over 60 should be screened at least once a year.
Kidney failure treatment
Dialysis takes over the kidney's job of removing waste, excess fluid and salts when function falls too low to sustain health, usually below 10–15% of normal. The two main forms are haemodialysis, done at a centre using a machine, and peritoneal dialysis, done at home using the abdominal lining as a filter.
A kidney transplant places a healthy donor kidney into a person with kidney failure, and it is the best available treatment for most eligible patients — offering longer survival and better quality of life than long-term dialysis. Donors may be living relatives or deceased donors, and recipients need lifelong immunosuppression and follow-up.
Hospital & ICU care
Acute Kidney Injury is a sudden fall in kidney function developing over hours to days, marked by rising creatinine or reduced urine output. Common triggers include dehydration, severe infection, painkillers, contrast dye and urinary obstruction. Unlike chronic disease, AKI is frequently reversible if the cause is identified and corrected quickly.
Critical care nephrology manages kidney failure in patients who are severely ill in intensive care — from sepsis, multi-organ failure, major surgery or poisoning. These patients are often too unstable for conventional dialysis and require continuous renal replacement therapy, delivered slowly and under constant monitoring.
Please note: This page is general health information, not personal medical advice. Kidney disease varies significantly between individuals. Please consult a qualified nephrologist about your own reports before making any change to your treatment.