Your kidneys are 2 bean-shaped organs that make urine (pee), balance your body’s water and mineral levels, and filter waste out of your blood.
The Urinary Tract
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What is benign hypertensive arteriolar nephrosclerosis?
Hypertension is high blood pressure High Blood Pressure Each heart beat pushes blood through your arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your body. Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in your arteries. Without... read more , arterioles are small arteries, "nephro-" refers to kidneys, and "-sclerosis" is scarring or damage.
Benign hypertensive arteriolar nephrosclerosis is kidney damage caused by having high blood pressure High Blood Pressure Each heart beat pushes blood through your arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your body. Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in your arteries. Without... read more for a long period of time.
Kidney damage usually gets worse slowly and can lead to severe chronic kidney disease
It's more common when your blood pressure has been high for a long time
Kidney damage is usually found on a blood test
You don't usually have symptoms until you get kidney failure
Doctors try to control your high blood pressure with medicine
You may need dialysis Dialysis Dialysis is an artificial process for removing waste products and excess fluids from the body, a process that is needed when the kidneys are not functioning properly. There are a number of reasons... read more
(a machine filters your blood when your kidneys aren’t able to do it)
What causes hypertensive kidney damage?
Having high blood pressure for a long time puts stress on your blood vessels. Eventually, the stress damages the blood vessels so blood doesn't flow through them well. If blood flow to an organ is poor, the organ can be damaged.
Your risk of kidney damage from high blood pressure is higher if:
Your blood pressure isn't controlled very well
You've had high blood pressure for a long time
What are the symptoms of hypertensive kidney damage?
You usually don't have any symptoms unless you get kidney failure. Symptoms of kidney failure include:
Feeling weak and tired
Feeling sick to your stomach
Being less hungry than usual
Itching
Feeling sleepy or confused
How can doctors tell if I have hypertensive kidney damage?
Doctors suspect kidney disease if you've had high blood pressure for a long time and routine blood tests show your kidneys aren't working normally. To check for other causes of kidney disease, they may do:
Blood and urine tests
Ultrasound of your kidneys
How do doctors treat hypertensive kidney damage?
Doctors try to keep kidney damage from getting worse by:
Controlling your high blood pressure High Blood Pressure Each heart beat pushes blood through your arteries. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to your body. Blood pressure is the pressure of blood in your arteries. Without... read more with medicine and changes to your diet
If your kidneys are badly damaged, you may need:
Dialysis Dialysis Dialysis is an artificial process for removing waste products and excess fluids from the body, a process that is needed when the kidneys are not functioning properly. There are a number of reasons... read more
(a machine filters your blood when your kidneys aren’t able to do it)
