What Should I Do About Feet Swelling Caused by Kidney Issues?

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the kidneys govern water. If kidney disease occurs, the body is prone to edema. If nephritis is discovered to cause edema in the feet, mild edema without other symptoms does not require medication for swelling reduction. However, if the edema is severe, significantly affecting the patient's daily standing or walking, and hypertension or other conditions appear, dialysis may be necessary for swelling reduction.

How to Treat Nephritis? The treatment principles include removing the predisposing factors, general treatment, treatment targeting the causes and pathogenesis, management of comorbidities and complications, and renal replacement therapy.

1. General treatment includes avoiding exertion, eliminating predisposing factors such as infections, avoiding contact with nephrotoxic drugs or toxins, adopting a healthy lifestyle (such as smoking cessation, moderate exercise, and emotional control), and maintaining a reasonable diet. During the acute phase, bed rest is recommended, and the amount of activity should be gradually increased after clinical symptoms improve. A low-salt diet (less than 3g of salt per day) should be followed during the acute phase. Individuals with normal renal function do not need to restrict protein intake, but protein intake should be limited in cases of azotemia, with a focus on high-quality animal proteins. Fluid intake should be restricted for patients with oliguria.

2. Treatment targeting the causes and pathogenesis often includes glucocorticoid and immunosuppressive therapy. Blood purification treatments such as plasmapheresis and immunoadsorption can effectively remove autoantibodies and antigen-antibody complexes from the body. Treatment for non-immune pathogenesis includes management of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, obesity, proteinuria, hypercoagulability within the kidneys, renin-angiotensin system activation, oxidative stress, and other conditions. Renin-angiotensin system blockers, such as ACEI/ARB, are one of the most important treatment measures to delay the progression of kidney disease.

3. The treatment of comorbidities and complications is also crucial. Kidney disease patients often have multiple comorbidities, such as metabolic abnormalities, hypertension, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and liver cirrhosis, which can exacerbate the progression of kidney disease and should be actively managed.

1. Acute glomerulonephritis is a group of diseases primarily manifesting as acute nephritic syndrome. It is characterized by acute onset, presenting with hematuria, proteinuria, edema, and hypertension, and may be accompanied by transient renal insufficiency. It is most commonly caused by streptococcal infections, but other bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections can also lead to its development.

2. Chronic glomerulonephritis, also known as chronic nephritis, is characterized by basic clinical manifestations of proteinuria, hematuria, hypertension, and edema. The onset patterns can vary, and the disease progresses slowly with varying degrees of renal function decline, ultimately developing into chronic renal failure. Due to differences in pathological types and disease stages, the main clinical manifestations can vary widely, resulting in diverse disease presentations.