There are many complications that come along with chronic kidney disease. Shortness of breath may appear in patients with chronic kidney disease. What are the causes of shortness of breath in chronic kidney disease?

Kidney is an important organ of our body. It plays an important role in keeping us in condition. When kidney is damaged, many functions will be affected.

Swelling.

One of the kidney functions is to remove the extra water out of our body to keep the fluid in normal amount. When one gets chronic kidney disease, this function will be decreased and there will be fluid retention. Another causes of swelling is that the loss of protein. Protein in blood vessel can protect water from leaking to other tissue spaces. Damaged kidney cannot keep protein in blood thus cause swelling.

At first, mild swelling appears only in eyelid, face and lower limbs. With the development of the disease, the damage to kidney increases. Swelling will spread to other organ. If it spread into lung, shortness of breath will occur.

Anemia.

Besides removing the extra water, kidney can also produce some hormones. EPO is one of the hormones that kidney secretes. It can produce red blood cells to maintain the normal activity of our body. When kidney is failed, the secretion of EPO will be decreased and the red blood cell are not enough to meet the need of our body. Anemia can cause shortness of breath. What’s more, if patients with chronic kidney disease are experiencing dialysis, the symptom will become more serious because some red blood cells will be discharged through dialyzate.

Swelling in lung and anemia are the two main causes of shortness of breath in chronic kidney disease. There are also other causes that can lead to shortness of breath. If you are not very clear, you can send an email to renal-disease@hotmail.com, the kidney doctor will give you the specific answers!