High Blood Pressure and Chronic Kidney Disease

High blood pressure, or hypertension, has a close link with chronic kidney disease. More than half of people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have this symptom, while hypertension, next to diabetes, has been the second leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

How does high blood pressure damage kidneys?

Blood pressure measures the force of blood against the walls of the blood vessels. Hypertension can occur as a consequence of too much fluid in normal blood vessels or from normal fluid in narrow, stiff or clogged blood vessels.

Hypertension makes the heart work harder and, over time, can damage blood vessels all over the body. This will reduce the blood supply to various organs, and kidneys are involved easily. Also, high blood pressure is able to damage the tiny filters in kidneys. Then, kidneys are damaged gradually.

How does chronic kidney disease cause hypertension?

Our kidneys play an important role in regulating blood pressure. When they are damaged, blood pressure increases easily. In turn, high blood pressure will accelerate the progress of patients' kidney disease developing to kidney failure.

How to lower high blood pressure in kidney disease?

In most cases, diet modifications and correct medical treatments can be helpful to lower kidney disease patients' blood pressure.

1. Arrange a healthy diet: It should depend on stages of kidney disease. In stage 1-2, dietitian may recommend patients follow a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables and dairy foods. Also, the diet should be low in sodium and sugar. As their kidney disease progresses, the intake of protein, cholesterol, saturated fat, potassium and phosphorus may also be reduced based on patients' condition.

2. Anti-hypertensive medications: To make high blood pressure decline to a normal range, some anti-hypertensive drugs such as ACEI, ARB, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, diuretic, etc, may be prescribed. However, never take any medication blindly.

3. Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy: With the effect of anti-coagulation and extending blood pressure, this therapy can reduce the force of blood against the walls of blood vessels, thus lowering hypertension. Besides, this therapy can also help reverse patients' kidney damage and improve kidney function.