Is Steroid A Must for CKD Patients

“Doctor. I heard that steroid is a must for CKD patients. But I do not want to use it. What to do?”

“Not all kidney patients need steroid, because different patients have different medical condition and physical condition. Whether you should use it or not depend on your condition.”

Now go on reading to learn more information about steroid and CKD.

Steroid is not necessary for all CKD patients.

Steroid is a commonly used medicine for renal patients with proteinuria. According to the length of steroid takes effect in body, steroids are classified into three types: short-term effect (about 8-12h), medium efficiency (about 18-36h), and long-term effect (about 36-54h).

The commonly used short-term effect steroid includes cortisone and hydrocortisone. Medium efficiency steroid includes prednison, prednisolone and methylprednisolone. Long-term effect steroid includes dexamethasone and betamethasone.

You may take these steroids before, but not all renal patients use them. We should analyze the patients comprehensively, including the basic information of kidney patients, urine protein, blood pressure, blood biochemistry, renal biopsy and medical history, and then make a suitable treatment plan for you and decide whether you use steroid or not.

Do you have to use steroids with high proteinuria?

Not a few kidney patients think that high urine protein means you have to use steroids. In fact, it is wrong. The amount of protein leakage can not reflect the severity of your medical condition. Whether you use steroids or not depends on the type of nephritis.

I still remembered that I have treated an IgA Nephropathy patient. Her blood pressure was normal, urine protein was 2+, red blood cells 20/HP, 24h urine protein 2g, and serum creatinine 62 umol/L. After having a clear diagnosis of her condition, I increased the dosage of RAS blockers without any use of steroids. Now her urine protein is kept down to 0.5g, and her blood pressure and kidney function is normal. But it still requires regular tests to reduce the risk of kidney failure.

Note: RAS blockers are mainly used to control blood pressure so as to reduce protein leakage and protect kidney function.

Steroids have a lot of side effects, such as moon face, acne, weight again, weakness, infections, etc. Therefore, if you can avoid them, you had better not take them. Steroids are not a must for CKD patients. For more information on CKD treatment, please leave a message below or contact online doctor.