What is Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease?

Chronic Kidney Disease or CKD takes place when the kidneys suffer damage and thereby, unable to filter the waste and blood to keep individuals healthy. Chronic Kidney Disease or CKD is divided into four different stages.

A person suffering from stage 4 of the chronic kidney disease experiences advanced kidney damages combined with severe reduction in the GFR i.e. Glomerular Filtration Rate ranging between 15 and 30 ml in 1 minute. Individuals dealing with stage 4 chronic kidney disease problems require kidney transplantation or dialysis in the coming months or years.

With the decline in kidney functions, formation of waste products takes place in the human blood to cause uremia i.e. a severe condition. In addition, patients with stage 4 chronic kidney disease develops various complications, which include shortage of blood cells or anemia, high blood pressure, heart/cardiac problems, bone diseases and similar others.

Patients may experience the following major symptoms during the stage 4 chronic kidney disease –

• Tiredness or fatigue.
• Retention of fluid, edema or swelling of extremities and breathing shortness.
• Changes in the regular urination, which may include changes in color of the urine to dark orange, foamy, tea-colored, brown and red in case it has blood or urinating less or more than normal
• Feeling of kidney pain in the back of a person.
• Sleeping problems because of restless legs or muscular cramps.
• Vomiting and/or nausea.
• Metallic taste or change in the tongue’s taste inside the mouth.
• Bad breath because of urea formation in the human blood.
• Appetite loss i.e. dislike to eat anything because of nausea or any other similar symptom takes place because of the formation of wastes in the blood.
• Facing difficulty in concentrating on a particular work.
• Nerve problems, which involve tingling or numbness in the fingers or toes.

Nephrologists i.e., doctors/surgeons specialize in the treatment of kidney problems mainly recommend patients with Stage 4 chronic kidney disease to undergo with any of the following treatment procedures-

Hemodialysis treatment for stage 4 chronic kidney disease involves the usage of a dialysis machine to remove a small amount of blood from the body of a patient by using a manually designed membrane referred as a dialyzer or an artificial kidney. The main role of this artificial kidney or dialyzer is to clear the toxins, including the uric acid from the patients’ body, as kidneys no longer become able to do the respective job. Finally, the filtered blood returns to the body from another vein or another point.

Peritoneal dialysis for stage 4 chronic kidney disease is a needle-free type of treatment associated with kidney failure. In this case, doctors use the lining of the patients’ belly or abdomen for filtering out the blood from one’s body. In simple words, nephrologists place a soft tube i.e. a catheter in the belly for a period of few weeks before beginning the treatment.

Kidney transplant involves a surgical procedure for placement of a healthy kidney from any deceased or live donor in patient suffering from stage 4 chronic kidney disease i.e. whose kidneys no longer are able to do function properly.

A stage 4 chronic kidney disease patient should consume a healthy diet i.e.,

• Reduce the intake of protein to reduce the formation of protein wastes in blood.
• Limiting legumes, whole grains, nuts and specific fruits and veggies in case levels of phosphorous and potassium remain high.
• Limiting sodium, phosphorous and potassium foods.
• Balance carbohydrates in case you suffer from diabetes.
• Reduce saturated fats to manage cholesterol levels.

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