What can you tell me about IGA Nephropathy?

IgA nephropathy (IgAN, also known as Berger's disease) is a kidney disease, which affects the glomerulus. Glomeruli are the tiny blood filters where urine is made. IgA nephropathy is the commonest "glomerulonephritis" (inflammation of the glomerulus) found in the developed countries of the world. IgA is short for immunoglobulin A, an antibody which usually helps the body to fight infections and toxins (poisons) encountered in the gut and the lungs. In IgA nephropathy, IgA is deposited in the glomerulus and sometimes goes on to cause problems. Although much research is trying to fnd out why, it is still not understood why IgA is deposited in the kidneys and why it only sometimes goes on to cause problems. In about one third of cases IgAN goes on to cause progressive damage to the kidneys and some of these patients may need dialysis and/or transplantation in the end IgAN tends to be very slowly progressive and so the process of the kidneys failing can take 10 to 30 years. At the time of diagnosis, it is often possible to tell whether there is a high chance of your kidneys becoming damaged with time or whether your outlook is good. A large number of treatments have been tried all over the world, but it is still not clear whether drugs and other treatments are helpful. In general this usually means that no treatment is particularly useful. Among the treatments which have been tried are - Fish oil, Steroids and other treatments to suppress the immune system, Diet, Antibiotics, Tonsillectomy. High blood pressure – hypertension - is the commonest and most important consequence of IgAN. In a small minority of patients the kidneys fail completely (end-stage renal failure) and they need dialysis treatment to keep them well. If this happens all patients will be considered for kidney transplantation and most go onto the waiting list. In general, patients with IgAN do well with transplantation, but there is some evidence that after time IgA may be deposited in the transplant kidney causing IgAN to recur. Even if it does, it usually takes ten to twenty years before the kidney fails completely.