Understanding the 5 stages of chronic kidney disease: Prevention, symptoms, and management

From Times of India

Chronic kidney disease or CKD, is a condition that builds over time, as a result of inappropriate kidney function. The primary job of our kidneys is to filter out the excess water and fluids from the blood, balance the electrolytes in the body, and perform other supportive tasks. But imagine if the waste starts to build up, the body won’t be able to manage such waste buildup and will lead to numerous health-related issues over time.

Chronic kidney disease is more of a silent condition; most people do not usually exhibit any symptoms or feel anything going on inside their body until periodic checkups are done. To help patients and doctors understand how far the disease has progressed, CKD is divided into five stages. The basis of these stages is the estimated glomerular filtration rate or eGFR, which measures how effectively kidneys are filtering blood.