Why Do Legs Go Puffy With IgA nephropathy
For patients with IgA nephropathy, they cam have many obvious symptoms in their body, and many patients may find they have puffy legs.
As we can imagine, sometimes this symptom is scary. While, why do patients’ legs go puffy? How can this problem be treated?
The reasons of puffy legs:
Puffy legs in patient with IgA nephropathy is caused by edema, which is a common complication.
A major cause of edema in patient with IgA nephropathy is massive proteinuria, which also often appears in patients with IgA nephropathy. Proteinuria means protein leaking through patient’s urine, and protein plays an important role in regulating the osmotic pressure of blood. When massive proteinuria lose through patient’s urine, the fluid in blood will flow into tissue space due to the pressure difference.
Another major cause of edema is the retention of fluid in patient’s body, which is caused by the low glomerular filtration rate (GFR), but this condition is more likely to appear in the late stage of kidney disease.
How can this problem be treated?
To treat patient’s edema, an important measure is to regulate patient’s diet.
Patient should have low sodium intake in his diet, because sodium can aggravate edema. If patient’s edema is caused by massive proteinuria, patient may need to increase his protein intake appropriately. Besides, patient will need to calculate his fluid intake according to his urine amount, so as to avoid taking much excess fluid.
And treatment is another important aspect in treating edema.
In the treatment, patient will need to take diuretics, which can help increase his urine output. And if patient’s proteinuria is caused by proteinuria, patient will need to take medicines like ARB, ACEI, cytotoxic drugs, glucocorticoids, etc, which can inhibit the inflammation in kidney, and reduce proteinuria. And if patient’s condition is too severe, dialysis can be a choice to reduce the excess fluid in his body.
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