How Is Pediatric Proteinuria Diagnosed
If you or your childs pediatrician suspect that your child has proteinuria, a condition in which protein leaks from the blood into the urine, the doctor will recommend a urine test.
In the past, a 24-hour urine collection was required to diagnose proteinuria. The patient would collect urine in a single container from the first visit to the bathroom in the morning through the first visit on the next day. This test may still be used, but most of the time, a simple urine test can be done in a doctors office to test how much protein is in your childs urine. A chemically-treated paper dipped into the urine sample will change color if protein levels are high.
If your child has no symptoms and a urine sample collected first thing in the morning indicates no protein or only trace amounts, the doctor may suggest that your child be tested again in a year. If protein is discovered in the urine, another first morning sample should be tested and also examined under a microscope, and further urinalysis the physical, chemical, and microscopic testing of a sample of urinewill be necessary. If the urine tests reveal excess protein and urinalysis results are abnormal, your child may need further evaluation because if the proteinuria persists, it can mean that your childs kidney function is declining.
What If Your Kidneys Arent In Perfect Health
So, should you be cautious about your protein intake? While research suggests that those with normally-functioning kidneys should be just fine, it might not be the right approach for everyone. And a high-protein diet may potentially pose problems if youre already suffering from issues in kidney function.
An investigation by researchers at Brigham and Womens Hospital found that high-protein diets may be associated with declining kidney function in women who already have mildly reduced functioning of this organ as measured by the glomerular filtration rate an indication of how effectively our kidneys are filtering the blood to remove waste from the body. Women with impaired kidney function who consumed diets high in protein experienced the most significant decline in GFR.
On further analysis, the risk was greater with increased animal protein intake, indicating that the source of protein may be an important factor. Perhaps eating more plant-based proteins is gentler on the kidneys.
Importantly, researchers observed no association between high protein intake and decline in kidney function in women with normal functioning kidneys. And protein intake levels up to 3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day in men who were weight training was shown to not negatively impact kidney functioning.
Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes:
In type 2 diabetes, symptoms happen slowly. Many people don’t notice any symptoms at all until their blood sugar has been too high for a long time. When they happen, symptoms include the general symptoms listed above and:
- Tingling, pain or feeling numb in your hands and feet
- Getting infections over and over
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Signs That Youre Eating Too Much Protein
Most people dont have to worry about serious health risks from eating too much protein, but you may experience minor side effects:
Bad breath: Excess protein can sometimes cause bad breath, due to bacteria breaking down the protein and emitting odors that can smell like cabbage or rotten eggs.
GI issues: Eating too many protein-rich foods may also mean youre missing out on other essential nutrients like fiber, since protein-rich animal products dont contain fiber. A low-fiber diet can cause digestive issues ranging from constipation, diarrhea, mild nausea, or fatigue after meals. It can also change your microbiome, the colony of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms that live in your gut.
Loss of appetite: Eating a lot of protein can also decrease appetite, says Fear, since it keeps you feeling full for longer. That can make it useful for weight-loss goals.
Weight gain: However, eating too much of anything can still lead to weight gain, so if youre consuming too many calories in the form of protein, those excess calories will be stored as fat and lead to weight gain.
How Does Protein Get Into Urine
Protein gets into the urine if the kidneys arent working properly. Normally, glomeruli, which are tiny loops of capillaries in the kidneys, filter waste products and excess water from the blood.
Glomeruli pass these substances, but not larger proteins and blood cells, into the urine. If smaller proteins sneak through the glomeruli, tubules recapture those proteins and keep them in the body.
However, if the glomeruli or tubules are damaged, if there is a problem with the reabsorption process of the proteins, or if there is an excessive protein load, the proteins will flow into the urine.
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What Foods Are Rich In Protein
Except for isolated fats and sugars, almost every food contains protein.
Among these, those with the highest protein density are predominantly animal foods.
While animal foods tend to be the best sources of protein, a few plant foods can be high in the macronutrient too .
The following foods are the most concentrated sources of dietary protein
Key Point:
Protein And Body Weight Reduction
Oftentimes, clients looking for weight loss will consider a low-carb, high-protein diet. When successful, people sometimes think its the absence of carbs from the daily calories that achieved the results. However, meeting the right protein requirements is beneficial in two ways. The first is that protein consumption reduces clients appetite. This is because calories from protein take longer to breakdown than most carbs and fats. Consequently, clients will feel fuller longer when eating a diet consisting of high-quality proteins. This result of appetite reduction is commonly called spontaneous reduction in calorie intake. All it means to your client is theyll be feeling fuller longer and therefore less likely to eat and snack at unnecessary times.
We already mentioned the need for protein to support the maintenance and growth of lean mass. Clients who have more muscle tissue have a higher resting metabolic rate because muscle burns more calories than fat to survive. A higher resting metabolic rate means more calories burned each day. Basic weight loss principles tell us more calories burned means more weight lost. So, this is the second reason why daily protein intake is important for body fat reduction.
You likely already know some of this, but you need to be able to convince your clients and people who ask you for fitness and nutrition advice. Tell them why getting enough high-quality protein is so important:
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Ckd Without Dialysis: Limit Protein
The more protein waste that needs to be removed, the harder the kidneys need to work to get rid of it. This can be stressful for your kidneys, causing them to wear out faster. For people with kidney disease who are not on dialysis, a diet lower in protein is recommended. Many studies suggest that limiting the amount of protein and including more plant-based foods in the diet may help slow the loss of kidney function.
How Can I Prevent Diabetes From Causing Kidney Disease
Work with your doctor to create a plan to prevent or slow damage to your kidneys. Even if your kidneys are already damaged, you can slow the damage from getting worse. Your plan may include to:
- Work with your doctor to control your blood sugar. Tell your doctor if your blood sugar is often too high or too low.
- Work with your doctor to control your blood pressure. Having both diabetes and high blood pressure can make you more likely to get kidney disease.
- Work with your doctor to manage your cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance in your blood. Having both diabetes and high cholesterol can make you more likely to get kidney disease. High cholesterol can also make your diabetic kidney disease get worse faster. Ask your doctor what your cholesterol level should be and how you can control it.
- Take all of your prescription medicines as your doctor tells you.
- Meet with a diabetes educator or dietitian to help you create and follow an eating plan.
- Quit smoking or using tobacco.
- Be active at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week. Being active helps your body use insulin better.
- Stay at a healthy weight. Ask your doctor what a healthy weight is for you.
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Why You Should Get Help For Mental Health
When you are having trouble coping with difficult situations, you may not seek help. Why is this? If you are physically injured, you will see a doctor for help. But why is it difficult to seek help from a professional when you are having trouble with your mental health?Attitudes and beliefs about mental health differ across cultures. Some of these attitudes and beliefs can be negative and lead to stigma. Stigma is when a person is labeled by their illness and are no longer seen as an individual but as part of a stereotyped group. Negative attitudes and beliefs toward this group create prejudice. This may lead to negative actions and discrimination.Stigma around mental health can make you feel bad about yourself and prevent you from getting the help you need to feel better. Here are some common reasons you may not ask for help when you are struggling with your mental health:
- It is hard to admit you cannot handle this on your own
- You think you are being a bother
- You feel weak and that you should be able to “tough it out”
- You believe the problem will eventually just go away on its own
- You believe this is just the way it is and there is nothing that can be done about it
- You believe mental health professionals are for “crazy” people
- You do not realize you are having a problem
- You do not know where to go for help
- Getting help from a professional costs too much
- No transportation to get to appointments
How Will I Know If I Have Diabetic Kidney Disease
At first, you will not have any symptoms when diabetes has damaged your kidneys. Since kidney damage happens over time, there are no symptoms until later stages.
The only way to know if you have diabetic kidney disease is for doctors to do tests for kidney disease. Doctors use blood and urine tests to check how well your kidneys are filtering your blood. The earliest sign of diabetic kidney disease is a urine test that shows protein in your urine.
If you have diabetes, you should have blood and urine tests for kidney disease at least once a year.
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Foamy Urine As A Sign Of Proteinuria
While foamy or frothy urine can be a sign of proteinuria, other factors can cause urine to be foamy on occasion. The foaminess should be persistent over time before considering other causes, like decreased kidney function.
If the kidneys have sustained only mild damage, proteinuria may be minimal to moderate, depending upon where in the kidney the damage has occurred. On the other hand, if the loss of kidney function is severe, proteinuria may be a contributor to nephrotic syndrome in which fluids and dyslipidemia present a more serious condition.
Symptoms of nephrotic syndrome include:
When Too Much Protein Might Be Harmful
Eating too much protein can lead to harmful side effects if you have existing kidney problems, or a family history of renal disease or kidney stones.
Some symptoms can indicate possible kidney disease or failure, a serious and potentially dangerous health problem, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
See a doctor if you experience some combination of the following symptoms of kidney problems:
- Blood or foam present in your urine
- Trouble sleeping
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How To Reduce Protein In Urine
This article was co-authored by Robert Dhir, MD. Dr. Robert Dhir is a board certified Urologist, Urological Surgeon, and the Founder of HTX Urology in Houston, Texas. With over 10 years of experience, Dr. Dhirs expertise includes minimally-invasive treatments for enlarged prostate , kidney stone disease, surgical management of urological cancers, and mens health . His practice has been named a Center of Excellence for the UroLift procedure, and is a pioneer in non-surgical procedures for ED using his patented Wave Therapy. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Georgetown University and was awarded honors in pre-medical studies, urology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology. Dr. Dhir served as chief resident during his urological surgical residency at University of Texas at Houston / MD Anderson Cancer Center in addition to completing his internship in general surgery. Dr. Dhir was voted Top Doctor in Urology for 2018 to 2019, one of the top three Best Rated Urologists in 2019 & 2020 for Houston Texas, and Texas Monthly has named him to the 2019 & 2020 Texas Super Doctors Rising Stars list.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 89% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 246,681 times.
How To Stop Kidneys From Leaking Protein
The first step to stop kidneys from leaking protein is to know the symptoms of it. Protein leak from kidneys is usually an indication of an underlying disease that needs to be diagnosed.
Leakage of large amounts of protein in the urine could be noticed with the following symptoms:
- Slummy, bubbling and frothy urine while using the toilet
- Body swelling around hands, feet, face and abdomen
- Sugar presence in urine in patients who have diabetes
- Weight gain due to fluid accumulation in the body
- Appetite gets reduced
- Protein supplements in blood are decreased. These include globulin and albumin.
While in most cases, proteinuria is detected with a urine examination done in patients suffering from high blood pressure or diabetes. If you notice the above symptoms, a urine examination if often advised for confirmation.
A urine examination would directly detect the presence of protein helping to identify proteinuria. The patient can get it done either at the doctorâs clinic or a pathology centre. The patient would be asked to give the urine sample in a specimen container which is used for diagnosis. While, some urine is tested right away using a dipstick, remaining is subjected to microscopic examination.
Here are some effective ways to stop the leakage of protein from kidneys. Know how to stop it and protect your health. It is important to understand that proteinuria is not a disease in itself, rather a symptom of an underlying disease.
These are:
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Who Is At Risk For Nephrotic Syndrome
Anyone can get nephrotic syndrome, but it is slightly more common in men than in women. In children, it happens most often between the ages of two and six. There are other factors that may increase your risk.You are more likely to get nephrotic syndrome if you:
- Have a disease that affects the kidneys such as FSGS, lupus or diabetes
- Take certain medicines like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics
- Have an infection such as HIV, hepatitis B and C or malaria
How Is Proteinuria Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will use a dipstick test to help diagnose proteinuria. During a dipstick test, youll pee into a special container at your healthcare providers office or a hospital. Then, your healthcare provider will place a thin plastic stick coated with special chemicals into the container. If too much of a protein is in your pee, the dipstick changes color.
Your healthcare provider will conduct a urinalysis on the rest of your pee. A urinalysis examines your pees visual, chemical and microscopic aspects under a microscope. Your healthcare provider looks for substances that dont belong in your pee. These substances may include red blood cells, white blood cells, bacteria and salt or protein crystals that can develop into kidney stones.
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Myth Busted: Researchers Show That A High
A widely held and controversial myth that high-protein diets may cause kidney damage in healthy adults has been debunked by scientists at McMaster University, who examined more than two dozen studies involving hundreds of participants.
The meta-analysis, published in The Journal of Nutrition, challenges the perceived dangers of a protein-rich diet, a notion first introduced in the 1980s which suggested processing large amounts of protein leads to a progressive decline in kidney function over time.
Its a concept thats been around for at least 50 years and you hear it all the time: higher protein diets cause kidney disease, says Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster who oversaw the study.
The fact is, however, that theres just no evidence to support this hypothesis in fact, the evidence shows the contrary is true: higher protein increases, not decreases, kidney function, he says.
Health experts routinely advocate the benefits of protein for many reasons: it boosts metabolism, increases satiety making one feel fuller for longer, promotes fat loss, helps build muscle during weight training and helps to preserves muscle, particularly in the elderly.
However, the impact of protein on kidney function is much more contentious, particularly its effect on the glomerular filtration rate , which is a test to measure how well the kidneys filter blood and remove waste.