Causes of acute and chronic kidney failure.
The most common causes are diabetes mellitus (around 20- 40%) and hypertension (high blood pressure 5- 25%), which both harm small blood vessels in the body:
Other causes are:
- Glomerular diseases (diseases affecting the glomeruli in the nephrons of the kidney). Glomerulonephritis accounts for 10- 20% of cases.
- Congenital / inherited abnormalities in the kidneys such as polycystic kidney disease or Alport’s Syndrome. (5%)
- Systemic inflammatory disease where both the glomeruli and the small tubes (tubules) of the kidneys are damaged. An example of this is Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE) and vasculitis. (5%)
- Interstitial Disease (5-15%) (nephritis)
- Drugs, especially analgesics, and non-steroidal anti- inflammatories, (and phenacetin in the past)
- Obstruction in the urinary tract, such as stones or prostatic disease
- Atherosclerotic renal vascular disease (more common in the elderly)
- Renal artery stenosis (narrowing)
- HIV- associated nephropathy
- Chronic infection such as chronic pyelonephritis
- Cancers affecting the body as a whole, the abdominal cavity, the pelvis or the urogenital system, and which may cause blockage to the vessels entering the kidneys, affect the kidneys themselves, or block the tubes or vessels leaving the kidneys.
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Amended April 2008
