What is Renal Medicine?

Renal medicine, or nephrology, is the branch of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of people with diseases and conditions of the kidneys.

Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, found at the back of your abdominal cavity, that filter out wastes and excess fluid from your blood and excrete them as urine.

Renal medicine includes the urgent care of acutely ill patients as well as those with chronic illness who require long term care. A doctor who specialises in disorders of the kidneys is called a nephrologist. Conditions seen by a nephrologist may include:

• Acute renal failure – the sudden loss of kidney function
• Chronic, or long term, renal failure – gradual worsening of kidney function
• Haematuria – blood loss in the urine
• Proteinuria – protein loss in the urine
• Kidney stones
• Chronic or frequent urinary tract infections
• Hypertension – that has not responded to antihypertensive therapy.

Many kidney disorders may be treated with medications but if kidney function starts to fail and the condition becomes severe, dialysis (using a machine to filter the blood) and later, kidney transplantation, may be required.

Kidney Health New Zealand has a website that contains information about kidney disease, support groups and patient information including helpful advice on chronic kidney disease and nutrition.