Causes

Kidney disease occurs when a disease or condition impairs kidney function, causing kidney damage to worsen over several months or years. For some people, kidney damage can continue to progress even after the underlying condition is resolved.

Diseases and conditions that can lead to kidney disease include:

• Type 1 or type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Glomerulonephritis (gloe-mer-u-low-nuh-FRY-tis) — an inflammation of the kidney's filtering units (glomeruli)
• Interstitial nephritis (in-tur-STISH-ul nuh-FRY-tis), an inflammation of the kidney's tubules and surrounding structures
• Polycystic kidney disease or other inherited kidney diseases
• Prolonged obstruction of the urinary tract, from conditions such as enlarged prostate, kidney stones and some cancers
• Vesicoureteral (ves-ih-koe-yoo-REE-tur-ul) reflux, a condition that causes urine to back up into your kidneys
• Recurrent kidney infection, also called pyelonephritis (pie-uh-low-nuh-FRY-tis)