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As a patient beginning peritoneal dialysis treatments, you are adjusting to many changes in your daily life. Your healthcare professional has probably told you that some changes in your diet will be necessary.

Why will you have to follow a special diet?

Because your kidneys are not able to get rid of enough waste products and fluids from your body.

It is important that you have the right amounts of protein, calories, vitamins...

What is membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis?

Many diseases can affect your kidney function by attacking and damaging the glomeruli, the tiny filtering units inside your kidney where blood is cleaned. The conditions that affect your glomeruli are called glomerular diseases. Glomerular diseases include many conditions with many different causes. One of these conditions is membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN). MPGN happens when...

A urinalysis is a simple test that looks at a small sample of your urine.  It can help find problems that need treatment, including infections or kidney problems.  It can also help find serious diseases in the early stages, like kidney disease, diabetes, or liver disease....

What is minimal change disease?

Many diseases can affect your kidney function by attacking and damaging the glomeruli, the tiny filtering units inside your kidney where blood is cleaned. The conditions that affect your glomeruli are called glomerular diseases. One of these conditions is minimal change disease (MCD). Minimal change disease is a disorder where there is damage to your glomeruli. The disease gets its name because the damage...

What is glomerular disease?

Your kidneys may be small, but they perform many vital functions that help maintain your overall health, including filtering waste and excess fluids from your blood. Your kidneys have about one million tiny filter units called nephrons. Each nephron has a glomerulus, so that means there are over one million of them too.  More than one glomerulus are called glomeruli. Glomeruli work like strainers used...

Now that you are beginning hemodialysis, there may be many changes in your daily life. Your doctor has probably told you that you may need to make some changes in your diet. The renal dietitian at your dialysis center will help you plan a diet for your special needs.

Why do I need to be on a special diet?

Because your kidneys are not able to get rid of enough waste products and fluids from your blood and your body now has special needs...

What is membranous nephropathy?

Many diseases can affect your kidney function by attacking and damaging the glomeruli, the tiny filtering units inside your kidney where blood is cleaned. Glomerular diseases include many conditions with many different genetic and environmental causes. Membranous nephropathy (MN) is a type of glomerular disease and is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease is caused when your body’s defense system turns...

Thin basement membrane disease (TBMD) is an inherited disorder that mainly affects the glomeruli, which are tiny tufts of capillaries (small blood vessels) in the kidneys that filter wastes from the blood. It is a rare disorder that has been diagnosed in less than 1 percent of the population.

The main symptom of TBMD is blood in the urine (hematuria). Another common symptom is protein in the urine (proteinuria). In most cases, there...

What is hematuria?

Hematuria means that red blood cells are in the urine. Urine does not normally contain red blood cells because the filters in the kidney prevent blood from entering the urine. In hematuria, the filters or other parts of the urinary tract allow blood to leak into the urine. Microscopic hematuria means that the blood is detected only with a microscope, while gross hematuria means the urine appears red or the color of tea or...