Kidney Diffuse Parenchymal Disease Bilateral
Yep, that was my reaction too when a reader asked me what this was. I took a bunch of guesses and then asked her to please speak with her nephrologist about this. Sometimes, I get asked doozies. I turned to the National Kidney Foundation for a simple explanation of this condition:
“’Bilateral renal parenchymal disease’ is a doctor term for scarring changes in the substance of both kidneys.”

I did look for a simple explanation, but that’s too simple for me. For instance, what are these ‘scarring changes’?
Oh, wait. Dr. Prashant C Dheerendray at Dharma Kidney Care in Bangalore, India, tells us something we should be aware of before we start investigating anything about this condition:
““Renal parenchymal disease” is a term used to describe the appearance of the kidneys on ultrasound. It doesn’t give the complete information about the functioning of kidneys in a given patient. Hence, as a nephrologist, I need more information from blood and urine tests before deciding whether it is dangerous or not.”
Time to hear from my favorite dictionary for some help:
“of, relating to, or affecting the right and left sides of the body or the right and left members of paired organs”
That makes perfect sense since bi is from Latin and means two, while lateral is also from Latin and means side. Most people have one kidney on each side of their body. Hence, bi for two and lateral for sides. Many thanks to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as usual.
Uh-oh, we forgot ‘diffuse.’ Back to the dictionary:
“spread or cause to spread over a wide area or among a large number of people”
I suspect including diffuse means the scarring is spreading. We’ll find out in just a little bit. So far, I’ve defined two not necessarily medical words. We know that renal and kidney are the same, so we’re left with ‘parenchymal.’ It does remind me of the term for an elephant, but I kind of doubt that’s the case here. We’re really working the dictionary today:
“relating to or affecting the functional tissue of an organ”
Oh, that’s where the scarring comes in. Let’s see if we can figure out exactly how, though.
Healthmatch, according to their website, is:
“… a diverse team of doctors, engineers, scientists and people dedicated to challenging the status quo of medical research.
We are united by a passion to deliver better healthcare options, for all, regardless of location, background or means. This means access to trials and the revolutionary treatments that come from them.”

It tells us:
“The kidneys comprise various components and structures that contribute to their bodily function. Within the kidney’s anatomy is the parenchyma, which is responsible primarily for the filtration of blood that passes through the kidneys and the excretion of waste in the form of urine.”
So, the scarring interferes with the blood filtration and excretion of waste, two of the most primary of the kidney’s many functions. Let’s see if can figure out how this scarring happens. I lucked on to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s information about the parenchyma:
“The renal parenchyma is the functional part of the kidney that includes the renal cortex (the outermost part of the kidney) and the renal medulla.
- The renal cortex contains the approximately 1 million nephrons (these have glomeruli which are the primary filterer of blood passing through the kidney, and renal tubules which modify the fluid to produce the appropriate amount/content of urine).
- The renal medulla consists primarily of tubules/ducts which are the beginning of the collecting system that allows the urine to flow onwards to being excreted.
Renal parenchyma disease describes medical conditions which damage these parts of the kidney.”
Now that I know what this condition or disease is, I’d like to know what causes it. I,Cliniq, the Virtual Hospital to the rescue!
“The causes of the renal parenchymal disease include:
- High blood pressure.
- Kidney stones.
- Diabetes.
- Genetic conditions such as polycystic kidney disease.
- Bacterial and viral infections.
- Family history of the disease.
- Autoimmune diseases such as lupus nephritis.
- Drug-related and others.”
We don’t know what the ‘others’ are, but I was surprised to see two non-kidney causes in this list: ‘bacterial and viral infections’ and ‘drug- related’. This is starting to sound like something you want to deal with a.s.a.p. But how?

According to Healthmatch:
“Doctors offer no single common solution or plan for the management and treatment of renal parenchymal disease. Each approach to helping an individual with renal parenchyma disease will take into account their condition, what symptoms they are experiencing, and the severity of the damage to the renal parenchyma.
The reality is that there is no cure for renal parenchyma disease but rather medical management of the symptoms as best as possible to try and prevent further deterioration and damage to the kidneys and your overall health.”
No cure? We’re living with chronic kidney disease which has no cure, but we can slow down its progress and do our best to keep it from being dangerous. Is renal parenchyma disease dangerous? Is CKD dangerous?
The National Kidney Foundation has a revelation for us:
“Renal parenchymal disease means the same thing as chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is just another way of saying CKD.”

Everything you’ve learned about CKD is true about renal parenchymal disease bilateral, too. You can call me Gail, Mom, or Bubby, but I’m still the same person. You can call this disease renal parenchymal disease bilateral or CKD, but it’s still the same disease.
Until next week,
Keep living your life!
- Autoimmune Disease
- chronic kidney disease
- CKD
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Hypertension
- Infection
- kidney
- kidney stones
- Kidneys
- National Kidney Foundation
- parenchymal
- Polycystic Kidney Disease
- Renal Cortex
- Renal Medulla
- renal parenchymal disease
- renal parenchymal disease bilateral
- Renal ultrasound
- Uncategorized
on May 29, 2023 at 8:50 am Leave a Comment
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