This has a negative impact on life expectancy
After the diagnosis of chronic renal insufficiency, the most important goal is to prevent further progression of the disease. There are several known factors that promote the progression of the disease. Some of these factors can be influenced by yourself, some are difficult to influence.
Smoking is one of these factors and should be avoided after renal failure. In addition, severe overweight and high blood pressure have a negative effect on the progression of the disease. Therefore a good blood pressure setting is essential in the therapy of renal insufficiency.
Already existing other basic diseases of the kidney also have a negative effect on the further course of the disease. If the person affected has diabetes mellitus, good blood sugar control is highly recommended. In addition, anaemia has a negative effect on the course of the disease and thus also on life expectancy.
This is also treated by the doctor. It is also very important not to take medication that damages the kidneys. This includes many drugs that are freely available in pharmacies, such as ibuprofen.
In addition, genetic factors are known in medicine which have a negative effect on the progression of the disease. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about this. In stage 1 there is hardly any restriction of the kidney.
If the cause of the slight deterioration can be found, it can usually be well treated and the progression of the disease prevented. However, stage 1 chronic renal insufficiency is unfortunately often overlooked and not diagnosed because it causes little or no discomfort. However, since there is hardly any damage, life expectancy in stage 1 is hardly limited.
Life expectancy in stage 2 is similar to stage 1, and the body can still compensate for the functional impairment of the kidney. However, the causes should be treated. It has been proven that care by a nephrologist prolongs life expectancy in existing renal insufficiency.
In stage 3, life expectancy is reduced. An important influence on life expectancy is albuminuria. Albuminuria is the excretion of a certain protein via the urine.
The more this protein gets into the urine via the kidney, the higher the risk of death. Therefore, one goal in the treatment of renal insufficiency is to keep the amount of protein that gets into the urine as low as possible.In addition, the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with increasing deterioration of the filtering function of the kidney. Thus, renal insufficiency increases the calcification of the vessels.
The risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases increases. Of course, life expectancy also depends on other factors. For example, the age and general health of the person affected plays an important role.
Furthermore, people respond differently to the therapies. Thus, life expectancy can vary greatly from person to person. In stage 4, kidney function is already severely restricted and it is foreseeable that a transition to stage 5, renal failure, will occur.
Here the kidney is no longer able to take over its functions and kidney replacement therapy must be provided. Therefore, in stage 4, kidney replacement therapies such as dialysis are being prepared in addition to the existing therapy. Dialysis can keep the affected person alive.
If dialysis is discontinued, the patient dies within a few days to weeks. With dialysis, the patient can live for several years. However, the best life expectancy is when a kidney transplant can be performed and carried out.
If this is successful, life expectancy is drastically improved. If the kidney transplant comes from a deceased donor, 77% of the patients are still alive 5 years after the transplantation. In the case of living donors, 85% of the transplanted patients are still alive.
Life expectancy with a kidney transplant is extended by 17 years compared to dialysis therapy in middle-aged or younger patients. The average life expectancy for all transplanted patients is about 14 years. The figure is even higher for living donors.
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