What are the symptoms of kidney disease and how is it diagnosed?
Symptoms of kidney disease include: • The need to urinate more or less • Foamy urine, caused by too much protein in the blood • Pink or cola-colored urine, caused by blood in the urine • Fatigue • Swollen feet or hands • Trouble concentrating • Darkened skin • Muscle cramps It’s important to remember that some people, especially those in the early stages of kidney disease, do not have any noticeable symptoms. In turn, it is important to conduct lab tests on a regular basis to look for certain abnormalities (these tests are also used to look for kidney disease in people with symptoms). These include: Urine testing (Urinalysis): When kidneys stop working correctly, they start removing healthy protein from the blood, excreting it as waste. Your health-care provider, or the lab that tests your blood, can check for protein by using a dipstick in a small urine sample. Urinalysis is a very common and simple lab test and, depending on your health-care provider, a routine component of HIV care.
