Is a kidney biopsy necessary to find out why there is protein leakage?

Doctor's Answers 1

Hello,

Without knowing all the pertinent details, it sounds like your relative has been advised to go for a kidney biopsy procedure to find out the cause for the protein leakage, which seems like it has faced a sudden jump in a relatively short period of time (ie 2 months).

A kidney biopsy is NOT a surgery per se; rather, it is a minor procedure whereby a doctor inserts a thin biopsy needle through the patient’s side to remove a very small amount of kidney tissue. This is then sent to the lab for examination.

Again, I do not know the exact circumstances in which the doctor has advised for this procedure, but my best guess is that there was no obvious cause for this sudden jump in protein leakage.

A kidney biopsy will be able to reveal much more information than blood and urine tests, and sometimes a correct diagnosis can only be made from the results of the biopsy.

It may be important to find out the cause to prevent the condition from worsening.

Can diet contribute to a patient’s major change in protein leakage?

A diet rich in protein can result in more issues with protein leakage for patients with kidney problems, so they are often placed on special diets. She should speak to the dietician about what diet to be on.

However, it’s unlikely in this case that her diet alone caused the jump in protein leakage.

Will she have to go for kidney dialysis soon? Anything she can do on her side to prolong her health to prevent condition from worsening?

I’m unable to comment on the need for dialysis, as there are too many factors that control when a patient needs to be placed on dialysis. You or she needs to talk to the kidney doctor about this, including how to prevent her condition from worsening. This will in turn depend on the cause for her kidney problems.

Similar Questions

Which patients require a regular urine dipstick test at home?

Hi, A great advantage of urine disptick is that you can get information immediately in different clinical settings. Typically, it is used at the bedside when a patient is hospitalized or in an outpatient clinic when you would like to get clinical information rapidly while waiting for lab confirmation. I agree with Dr Tzeyeong Teng's previous answer as it is not commonly used at home, but many times it is underutilized as you can see in my examples below. Urine dipstick can be used in home care for patients with poor mobility or very frail or living far away or too busy to come to the clinic.

Photo of Dr Francisco Salcido-Ochoa

Answered By

Dr Francisco Salcido-Ochoa

Nephrologist

How can I reduce the calcium content in my blood if I have an overactive parathyroid and recurrent kidney stones?

The cause of your kidney stones could in fact be due to high calcium levels resulting from an overactive parathyroid gland, (or hyperparathyroidism). The parathyroid gland produces the hormone PTH, which increases calcium levels in your body. Normally, when calcium levels in your blood fall too low, your parathyroid glands secrete PTH to restore the balance. PTH raises calcium levels by releasing calcium from your bones and increasing the amount of calcium absorbed from your small intestine. When blood calcium levels are too high, the parathyroid glands produce less PTH.

Photo of Human

Answered By

Human

Ask any health question for free

I’m not so sure about a procedure...

Ask Icon Ask a Question

Join Human

Sign up now for a free Human account to get answers from specialists in Singapore.

Sign Up

Get The Pill

Be healthier with our Bite-sized health news straight in your inbox