Effect of pregnancy on renal disease

Hello out there. I've just starting doing some research about pregnancy and kidney disease. I found an interesting article and wanted to see if anyone has opinions or comments on my findings/interpretations...

It appears in this paper that there is a strong correlation between the status of kidney function prior to conception and how much (if any) the kidney function will decline. In other words, if your kidneys are functioning well you are likely to lose very little function over the course of the pregnancy but if your functioning is low to begin with the pregnancy will probably be very taxing on your kidneys.

The paper states that "16% of pregnant patients with mild renal insufficiency had a decline in renal function". However, the severity of the decline is unaddressed in the paper. It goes on to say, "about 6% of these patients progressed to peripartum ESRD.

So, I took that to mean that if you had 1,000 pregnant women with mild renal insufficiency 160 of them would experience some decline in renal function with 10 of them progressing to peripartum ESRD. Also it can be noted that UTIs and hypertension contribute to a decline in functioning. They occur in normal pregnancies and also in people who have kidney disease so when you have both things going on I guess there's a double-whammy?

The paper suggests prenatal care every two weeks for the first 28 weeks and then weekly thereafter. Blood pressure and protein should be checked at each visit and ultrasounds done monthly.

Here is another study about Kidney Disease and Hypertension in Pregnancy.

SO, what do you think?

RIP John Ma

I learned today that an old friend took his life. We met while we were in college. We took several classes together. In fact, he was the first person I met in school and many of my college memories include him. We lost touch a few years ago but I am still greatly saddened. He was so funny and had so much character. And wow what a great sushi chef! My heart goes out to all friends, family, and others who were lucky enough to know him. http://www.floridasuicideprevention.org