Thursday, October 13, 2011

Azotemia - What is This Medical Condition?

Azotemia is a medical condition in which there are abnormal levels of some things in the patient's blood. These may include: urea, creatinine, and other nitrogen-containing compounds. This article discusses some of the general information related to the condition, including classifications, symptoms, and medical causes. This article does not attempt to tie the symptoms and underlying causes to any one particular classification, or say that the symptoms or causes are always linked to azotemia. Please look for qualified medical assistance on matters needing such advice.

For classifications, two major ones are prerenal and postrenal. In the prerenal form, a decreased cardiac output leads to insufficient blood supply to the kidneys. In the postrenal classification, the urine flow is blocked below the kidneys.

Some of the symptoms include items such as: confusion, dry mouth, fatigue, orthostatic hypotension, thirst, and more. One other such symptom is tachycardia, or a rapid pulse, which can be a serious issue. When the heart rate is elevated past the normal range, the heart is doing more work and needing more oxygen. Issues such as a heart attack or angina have the potential to follow as complications.

Some potential underlying medical causes of azotemia include these issues: blood volume loss, burns, dehydration, bloodstream fluid loss, kidney trauma, cancer, some congenital disorders, and inflammation of the kidneys. Additionally, kidney stones can be a problem that leads to this condition. Also known as renal calculi or nephrolithiasis, these stones occur from in the kidneys dissolved urinary minerals. Smaller ones can pass without leading to any symptoms or issues, however, larger ones can become stuck.

No comments:

Post a Comment