Healthy start

Stages of chronic kidney disease

By understanding the different stages of chronic kidney disease, you can play an active role in your treatment and enable you and your loved ones to make better decisions about your health.

We are here for you on your dialysis journey.

Reach out to us if you need more information or support.

What are the stages of chronic kidney disease?

The Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) is used as a measure to determine how well your kidneys are filtering and cleaning your blood.

Stage

Description

GFR level

Stage

Normal kidney function

Description

Healthy kidney

GFR Level

90ml/min or more

Stage

Stage 1

Description

Kidney damage with normal or high GFR

GFR Level

90ml/min or more

Stage

Stage 2

Description

Kidney damage and mild decrease in GFR

GFR Level

60 to 89 ml/min

Stage

Stage 3

Description

Moderate decrease in GFR

GFR Level

30 to 59 ml/min

Stage

Stage 4

Description

Severe decrease in GFR

GFR Level

15 to 29 ml/min

Stage

Stage 5 or ESKD* *End-stage kidney disease

Description

Kidney failure

GFR Level

Less than 15 ml/min or on dialysis

If you are at risk or show signs of kidney disease, your doctor will take several steps to improve your health.

Your primary goal:

To slow the progression of kidney disease and to delay dialysis. Your doctor will want to determine the cause and whether it is reversible or not. If the cause is an underlying condition like diabetes or hypertension, your doctor will assist you in trying to control this condition. Lifestyle and diet changes may also be initiated. Dieticians play a significant role in helping patients delay kidney failure. This sort of intervention, however, may be effective only if the signs of kidney disease are diagnosed early.

kidney specialist

The role of a nephrologist

A nephrologist is a health professional who specialises in conditions that affect the kidney, and can support you and work with your primary care doctor to:

Slow the rate of decline of your kidney function.

Decide if a kidney biopsy might be useful.

Diagnose the type of kidney disease and whether it might be reversible with treatment.

Manage complications of kidney disease such as high blood pressure, metabolic acidosis and changes in mineral balance.

When to see a nephrologist

When your GFR is 30 ml/min/m2 or lower

This would be stage 4 chronic kidney disease.