Nephrology is a specialty of internal medicine that focuses on the treatment of diseases that affect the kidneys. Nephrologists are also very knowledgeable about how kidney disease or dysfunction can affect other parts of your body. Although your primary care doctor will work to help prevent and treat early stages of kidney disease, a nephrologist should be consulted to help diagnose and treat more severe or complex kidney conditions.
Common conditions nephrologists treat:
- Blood or protein in urine
- chronic kidney disease
- kidney stones
- kidney infections
- kidney swelling
- kidney cancer
- polycystic kidney disease
- hemolytic uremic syndrome
- renal artery stenosis
- nephrotic syndrome
- end-stage kidney disease
- kidney failure, both acute and chronic
