\u200bThere are approximately 31 million people in the United States who are affected by kidney disease. Kidney disease is a term that refers to any kind of damage to the kidneys that makes them function at a lesser capacity. To determine the level of damage to kidneys, doctors use the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to identify how well the kidneys are filtering waste products out of the blood. A normal eGFR is 90 percent or higher. Using the eGFR, doctors talk about kidney disease in terms of stages. If your older family member has kidney disease, it can be helpful to know the stages. The 5 stages of kidney disease are described below.<\/p>\n
Stage 1<\/strong><\/p>\n In this stage, the damage to the kidneys is mild. The eGFR is still at 90 percent or more, but the person has some signs of kidney damage, such as protein in the blood or physical damage to the kidneys. People with stage 1 kidney disease can take steps to reduce the rate of progression, such as:<\/p>\n Stage 2<\/strong><\/p>\n In stage 2, the eGFR is between 60 and 89 percent. Although the kidneys are still working well and generally healthy, there are other signs of damage. Following the same steps listed above will help to keep the damage from getting worse.<\/p>\n Stage 3<\/strong><\/p>\n People who have stage 3 kidney disease have an eGFR of 30 to 59 percent. At this point, the kidneys aren\u2019t working as well as they should. While the person may not have any symptoms, they could be experiencing:<\/p>\n The older adult may also have other health problems related to kidney disease, such as:<\/p>\n\n
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