肾脏学Frequently Asked Questions
什么是肾脏学家？
一种肾脏学家is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions that affect your kidney. Nephrologists are experts in kidney function who also study how kidney disease can harm other areas of your body.
您的肾脏涉及几个重要的身体功能，包括：
- 通过释放某些荷尔蒙的高血压管理
- waste and excess fluid removal from your blood
- 矿物，水和电解质平衡
肾病学家诊断并治疗几种影响你肾脏的条件。当其他健康因素有助于肾病和功能障碍等时，他们也参与其中：
- autoimmune diseases: a group of diseases where your immune system attacks your body
- 尿液中的血液：迹象表明您可能有感染，肾病或癌症
- 慢性肾病: the gradual and irreversible damage to your kidneys
- diabetes：一种可能损害肾脏，神经和其他器官的疾病
- 肾小球肾炎：威胁危及肾脏内部结构的炎症
- heart disease: a group of serious diseases that includes hardening or clogged arteries, weakened muscles, and more
- high blood pressure (HBP)：增加到不健康水平的血压，可能导致肾脏和其他器官造成损害
- 肾癌: a type of cancer that originates in or spreads to your kidneys
- kidney failure：肾功能丧失，这允许毒素在血液中积聚
- kidney stones：用肾脏和尿路内的晶体形成的固体肿块
- polycystic kidney disease：一种遗传性疾病，导致填充液体囊肿在肾脏中开发
- 肾动脉狭窄: a narrowing of the arteries that provide blood to your kidneys
- 肾病综合征：由于肾脏损伤，尿液中的过量蛋白质
Nephrologists will perform different procedures depending on the reason for your visit. For initial visits, your nephrologist may perform diagnostic tests, such asblood testsandurinalysis。根据您的实验室结果，肾病学家还可以执行以下步骤：
- 肾脏的成像测试，包括超声波和X射线
- 透析，涉及用于过滤和净化血液的机器
- renal biopsies, in which kidney tissue samples are taken for lab analysis
- kidney transplant, which is a procedure that replaces failing kidneys with healthy ones
通常，当您怀疑您有肾脏相关的症状时，您的初级保健医生会将您参考肾脏学家，专家知道如何对待。参观肾病学家的一些最常见的原因包括慢性尿路感染或经常性肾结石。但是，如果您有：
- a family history of kidney disease
- 慢性肾病
- diabetes
- heart disease
- high blood pressure