Prognosis and life expectancy Up to 70 percent of people can expect to have a normal life expectancy without complications. This is especially true for people who only have minimal proteinuria and normal kidney function at the time of their diagnosis.
Life expectancy is substantially reduced for patients diagnosed with IgA nephropathy in the southeastern United States.
There's no cure for IgA nephropathy and no definitive way of knowing what course the disease will take. Some people experience complete remission, others live normal lives with low amounts of blood or protein in their urine, but some people progress to kidney failure.
Most of the IgAN patients showed good outcomes, but about 30% of them progressed to ESRD within 10–20 years, while in some patients the disease developed rapidly to ESRD within ten years.
IgA nephropathy can cause your kidneys to gradually stop functioning. Then permanent dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed to live.
Over time, some patients with IgAN slowly get worse until they reach kidney failure, If this occurs, you will need a kidney transplant or dialysis to stay alive. Some people respond well to treatment and may live with the disease for many years while being monitored for any signs of change.
IgA nephropathy, or Berger's disease, is a kidney disease caused by a buildup of abnormal IgA antibody. Over time, it leads to kidney damage or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) — kidney failure. Symptoms include hematuria, or blood in your urine. Medication can slow the disease's progress.
Eat less protein.
Reducing the amount of protein you eat and taking steps to decrease your cholesterol levels may help slow the progression of IgA nephropathy and protect your kidneys.
What causes IgA nephropathy? Scientists think that IgA nephropathy is an autoimmune kidney disease, meaning that the disease is due to the body's immune system harming the kidneys. People with IgA nephropathy have an increased blood level of IgA that contains less of a special sugar, galactose, than normal.
A high rate of spontaneous remission in patients with IgAN and minor glomerular abnormalities or focal mesangial proliferation was reported [5]. These patients received no medication, and 57 patients (59.4%) achieved remission. The mean time to remission was 5.9 ± 0.4 years.
Doctors sometimes find signs of IgA nephropathy during a routine urine test, when they see blood or protein in your urine under a microscope. You may also: Feel weak and tired. Feel like you have a cold or the flu.
Signs & Symptoms
Patients with IgA nephropathy often present with3,8: most often red colored urine (visible hematuria) pain in the sides of their back (flank pain) swelling in the ankles.
For a 60-year-old man, stage 1 kidney disease life expectancy will be approximately 15 years. That figure falls to 13 years, 8 years, and 6 years in the second, third, and fourth stages of kidney disease respectively. For a 60-year old woman, stage 1 life expectancy is 18 years, while stage 2 is only one year less.
Conclusions: Moderate alcohol consumption might have a favorable impact on the progression of IgAGN. Light alcohol consumption in women and moderate consumption in men are associated with improved indices of the glomerular filtration estimates in patients with IgAGN.
Regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are also effective ways to help manage your disease progression. Talk to your doctor about incorporating exercise into your daily routine.
Some complementary approaches include yoga, herbal supplements (curcumin), and following a healthy diet. Studies suggest that cocoa, avoiding heavy drinking, and refraining from fasting may also reduce inflammation and lower IgA levels.
Studies also show that coffee has protective effects on the kidneys, thanks to antioxidants. Drinking coffee is associated with a lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Transplantation is the treatment of choice for individuals with progressive kidney failure due to IgA nephropathy (IgAN), which is caused by the deposition of IgA in the kidney parenchyma. Recurrent IgA deposition in the allograft is common and may cause hematuria, proteinuria, or progressive kidney dysfunction.
Fish oil is used to slow the progression of kidney disease in people with IgA nephropathy. While fish oil capsules may be effective in many patients, some patients do not respond to it. How does it work? The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil prevent inflammation in the kidney to slow down progression of kidney disease.
The study concludes that there is no need to reduce acute physical activity in patients with IgA nephropathy, but clearly a triathlon can be more strenuous.
INTRODUCTION. Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerular disease worldwide [1]. Most IgAN patients have slowly progressive disease, with ∼20–30% of patients progressing to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) within 10–20 years of diagnosis [2].
Most epidemiologic studies were conducted in the United States (n=16), followed by the United Kingdom (n=9) and Spain (n=8). Across 24 studies with a study population ranging from 83 to 33 391, the rate of IgAN diagnosis following renal biopsy was 6.3% to 29.7% among adults and children.
IgAN is considered a rare disease, but it is estimated that about 60,000 in the U.S. have the illness.