Causes Of Acute Nephritis

Acute (sudden onset) nephritis remains one of the most important causes of renal failure, though causes of acute nephritis are sometimes difficult to pinpoint from other causes of renal failure, making diagnosis difficult. Some of the symptoms of acute nephritis are pelvic pain, fever, discomfort during urination, frequent urination, cloudy or bloody urine, abdominal pain, vomiting, and swelling in the feet and legs. Elevated blood pressure may also occur during nephritis.

Acute nephritis needs to be addressed when symptoms arise. Certain individuals are at higher risk for acute nephritis. If there is a history of kidney disease in the family or if individuals have an immune system problem, they might have kidney problems more frequently. Also, if individuals take antibiotics or pain medications often, or have had surgery in your urinary tract, they are at risk.

Allergic Reaction

An allergic reaction to medications, especially antibiotics, may cause acute nephritis. During such a response, the body reacts negatively to a substance and attacks what it thinks is a harmful chemical and attacks itself to get rid of the chemical. Some of the drugs that can cause a reaction and acute nephritis are antibiotics such as penicillin and sulfonamides. Other medicines that may cause a nephrotic allergic response include furosemide, omeprazole, thiazide diuretics, allopurinol, and triamterene.

For those who already have kidney problems, using one of these products may cause their liver to become inflamed and damaged. Thus, they should consult their health care provider about which medications to take with kidney issues. Kidney damage symptoms appearing after taking medication should also be reported, even if no risk factors existed before taking the medication.

Bacterial Infections

Kidney infections remain a common type of infection related to the urinary tract. Bacteria gets to the kidneys via the bladder or urethra, then continues to the kidneys. Both men and women get kidney infections, though the most likely individuals to get kidney infections are pregnant women, children younger than two years old, and those over sixty.

The kidney's primary function is to eliminate toxins from the body. So, when the kidneys are infected, they can't do their job correctly. The main symptoms of a kidney infection include back pain, nausea, and diarrhea. Antibiotics usually cure bacterial kidney infections. The causes of kidney infections include incorrect toilet hygiene, using a urinary catheter, having kidney stones or an enlarged prostate, and a weakened immune system. Also, women who are sexually active may get bacterial infections more often than those who are not.

Kidney Stones

Renal lithiasis or kidney stones consist of minerals that form inside the kidneys. These stones occur, in many cases, when urine becomes concentrated and minerals collect. Although the pain levels when these stones pass are high, they usually move without causing any damage to the urinary tract or kidneys. Doctors can recommend ways to reduce or prevent the occurrence of these stones. One easy way to keep these stones away remains to drink plenty of water to keep urine diluted. Symptoms specific to renal lithiasis include severe pain in the side, back and below the ribs, as well as the groin and lower abdomen. Also, these stones produce pain that comes and goes, bloody urine, frequent urination, and the passing of urine.

Surgery

Urinary tract problems occur reasonably frequently after surgery, though these problems normally resolve themselves shortly after the procedure. At times, more severe kidney complications arise, such as acute nephritis. These complications tend to occur in surgical patients who require extensive treatment after the procedure. Sometimes the post-surgical kidney infection starts in the kidneys and spreads into the bladder, causing a double infection. Urinary catheter use right after a procedure remains caused, in many cases, by the use of a Foley catheter when general anesthesia is used.

In a few cases, a surgical procedure causes the bladder not to empty. A buildup of urine can cause kidney and bladder infections. Individuals unable to thoroughly drain their bladders have to stay in the hospital until the situation clears. Another cause of acute nephritis occurs when the kidneys are injured during surgery.

Immune System Conditions

The immune system remains a crucial part of the way the body protects itself from disease. It identifies harmful substances that may enter and attack the body. However, in some cases, the immune system doesn't work normally and causes the body to attack itself by going after a normal part of the body instead of only the harmful elements. Individuals with autoimmune systems problems find many areas, including the kidneys, become attacked and damaged by their immune system conditions. The recovery of a patient with a kidney disorder highly depends upon the patient's immune system. About ninety-five percent of kidney disease is caused by immune system conditions. For this reason, treating this system also prevents the kidneys from being inflamed and damaged.

Low Potassium

Potassium is an essential electrolyte that is imperative to the function of muscle and nerve cells. An individual's kidneys are responsible for regulating how much potassium remains in the body and how much potassium leaves the body. Low potassium is known to be associated with renal interstitial fibrosis and abnormalities in the renal tubular cells. These mechanisms cause inflammation in the small filters that make up the kidney or nephrons.

Low potassium in the blood causes an imbalance to form in the normal vasoactive mediators. The vessels in the kidneys can become too constricted due to this imbalance, which can obstruct the adequate flow of blood through the tiny filters. Damage occurs due to ischemia of the tissues that make up the nephrons, which is what causes the development of acute nephritis.

Urinary Exams Using A Cystoscope

An individual who has frequent exams of their urinary tract through a cystoscope may develop acute nephritis as a complication of their procedure. A cystoscopy is a diagnostic procedure used to view and examine a patient's urethra, ureter openings, and bladder. A cystoscope is a long, hollow, thin instrument that is maneuvered through the patient's urethra, into their bladder, and through their ureters.

A special type of cystoscopy involves the injection of a contrast media or dye into the ureters so the structures and organs in the urinary tract will be represented better on an x-ray. Some individuals who have this type of cystoscopy may have an abnormal reaction to the presence of a cystoscope and or the contrast media injected into their urinary tract. In these rare cases, the immune system responds in an extreme and abnormal fashion, producing swelling and inflammation in the ureters and kidney tissues. This procedure-precipitated inflammation is a form of acute nephritis.

History Of Cancer

Cancer is a life-threatening disease where cells that multiply and grow rapidly take over and damage the tissues in the organs and body. However, powerful and potent methods of treatment are available for individuals who develop malignancy in their bodies. Chemotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses a cocktail of one or more extremely powerful medications that target all cells in the process of cell division. The cells inside of the kidneys have some of the highest turnover rates in the body because they have one of the hardest jobs in the body.

Because these cells are dividing more than others around the body to replace the cells that are destroyed, chemotherapy causes more damage in the kidney tissues than other parts of the body. Radiation therapy is another cancer treatment that can produce inflammation and damage in the kidney tissues when it is used on the abdomen or pelvic area. The prior use of these treatments in patients who have had cancer can cause them to develop acute nephritis.

Broken Abscesses

An individual develops an abscess in their kidney when an infection travels through their blood from a primary source in the body and colonizes in the perirenal space and the small filters of the kidney. The bacteria induce an inflammatory response by the patient's immune system, where an influx of white blood cells and other inflammatory substances are summoned to the site of the infection. These components coagulate in a capsular fashion and have the potential to develop into a fluid-filled or lobular abscess in the kidney.

A kidney abscess can rupture as a result of internal or external trauma to the area, allowing the infective contents and bacterial byproducts to spill and come into direct contact with the surrounding kidney tissues. These substances damage the structure and functionality of the small filters in the kidneys, which can induce acute nephritis.

Taking Too Many Anti-Inflammatories And Pain Relievers

Anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers are effective at treating pain and reducing fevers, but excessive use can cause the development of acute nephritis. Most of these medications should not be used for longer than ten days to treat pain, and more than three days to treat a fever. Every medication ingested will pass through the kidneys as they filter toxins, wastes, and excess fluids from the blood. These medications cause the kidneys to have to work harder to clear the drugs and their byproducts from the blood.

When the kidneys carry this burden of being overworked for a long time, the kidney tissues can incur damage. The damage done to the filters in the kidneys can produce inflammation that the immune system and healing mechanisms work tirelessly to repair. As kidney function reduces over time from the excessive use of anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers, the organ becomes less capable of upholding a burdensome workload and is more vulnerable to inflammation and acute nephritis.