Fluid on Lungs from Nephrotic Syndrome

Fluid on lungs is one severe sign of Nephrotic Syndrome, which is characterized by the increase of glomerular basement membrane's permeability. This symptom can affect patients' life quality largely, so they should pay attention to their pulmonary edema.

How does Nephrotic Syndrome cause fluid to retain in lungs?

Hypoproteinemia is one typical symptom of Nephrotic Syndrome, and it can lead plasma oncotic pressure to decline that makes fluid come into tissue space from blood vessels. This is the basic reason of edema for Nephrotic Syndrome patients. Besides, fluid retention in the body caused by the damaged glomerular filtration membrane is another main cause of fluid retention in lungs.

The symptoms of fluid on lungs

The early stage of fluid on lungs may be cough especially at night. This may be misdiagnosed as airway inflammation or cold. In fact, if patients have difficult breathing, shortness of breath, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, thopnea, and so on. These symptoms can indicate the onset of fluid on lungs.

How to treat pulmonary edema for Nephrotic Syndrome patients?

The main treatment is the use of diuretic that can increase the elimination amount of sodium and water. This is beneficial to reduce blood volume and pulmonary vascular congestion. Besides, patients may need to take cardiac stimulant to increase myocardial contraction force, improve left ventricular function, and increase cardiac output. In severe cases, patients may even need to use anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy drugs and pleural puncture drainage.

In China, doctors of TCM usually use Chinese Herbal Medicine, acupuncture and Food Therapy to treat fluid retention in lungs.

All of these therapies can help ease this symptom for Nephrotic Syndrome patients. However, if patients want to overcome this problem from the root, they should seek some therapies that can repair glomerular filtration membrane and rebuild kidney filtering structure effectively.

Tag: Nephrotic Syndrome nephrotic syndrome symptoms

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