Nephrotic Syndrome

Caring for your child at home

Source: NHS

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If your child has been diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, you'll need to monitor their condition on a daily basis to check for signs of relapses.

You'll need to use a dipstick to test your child's urine for protein the first time they urinate each day.

The results of a dipstick test are recorded as either:

  • negative 0mg of proteinuria per decilitre of urine (mg/dL)
  • trace 15-30mg/dL
  • 1+ 30-100mg/dL
  • 2+ 100-300mg/dL
  • 3+ 300/1,000mg/dL
  • 4+ over 1,000mg/dL

The result for each day needs to be written down in a diary for your doctor or specialist nurse to review during your outpatient appointments.

You should also note down the dose of any medication they're taking and any other comments, such as whether your child is feeling unwell.

If the dipstick shows 3+ or more of protein in the urine for three days in a row, this means your child is having a relapse. If this happens, you either need to follow the advice given about starting steroids or contact your doctor.

You should seek immediatemedical advice if:

  • your child has come into contact with someone who has chickenpox or measles and your doctor has told you that your child is not immune to these illnesses
  • your child is unwell or has a fever
  • your child has diarrhoea and is vomiting

Articles for Nephrotic Syndrome

Caring for your child at home

If your child has been diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, you'll need to monitor their condition on a daily basis to check for signs of relapses. You'll need to use a dipstick to test your child's ur

Causes of nephrotic syndrome

Most children with nephrotic syndrome have "minimal change disease". This means thattheir kidneys appear normal or nearly normal if a tissue sampleis studied under a microscope. The cause of minimal c

Congenital nephrotic syndrome

Congenital nephrotic syndrome is usually caused by an inherited faulty gene. For the condition to be passed on to a child, both parents must have a healthy copy of the gene and a faulty one. This mea

Diagnosing nephrotic syndrome

Nephrotic syndrome can usually be diagnosed after dipping a dipstick into a urine sample. If there are large amounts of protein in a person's urine,there will be a colour change on the stick. A blood

Introduction

Read about nephrotic syndrome, a condition that causes the kidneys to leak large amounts of protein into the urine. This can lead to a range of problems.

Managing nephrotic syndrome

The main treatment for nephrotic syndrome is steroids, but additional treatments may also be used if a child develops significant side effects. Most children have relapses until their late teens and

What problems can it cause?

Most children with nephrotic syndrome have times when their symptoms are under control (remission), followed by times when symptoms return (relapses). In most cases, relapses becomeless frequent as t