Kidney Disease: Can kidney disease induced anemia be treated with iron supplements?

Can kidney disease induced anemia be treated with iron supplements?Can taking iron supplements help overcome anemia caused by kidney disease/failure? And why does kidney disease/failure often cause nausea and loss of appetite? Thank you!

Posted by lalalabc
Hi,
This website answers your questions about iron: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/anemia/
In short, yes, iron tablets may help, but if you are to take them without instructions of a medical professional, follow directions on the supplement, and never take too many- taking too much iron can have terrible consequences.
EPO therapy may also help.
As for nausea and loss of appetite- this is caused by a build-up of waste in your blood as a result of kidneys not filtering properly. In this symptom, the body tries to get rid of the waste in any way it can.

Please don't fully depend on these answers for your health- consult your doctor for better information.
Good luck!

Posted by AbeLincolnParty
Iron alone would not help as kidney failure results in too low levels of erythropoietin, a hormone the kidneys makes that induces the bone marrow to make RBCs.

Iron often is given, but the levels have to be monitored, as iron overload can lead to serious toxicity, including liver toxcity.

In all cases of anemia, iron levels have to be measured to justify iron supplementation.

see:
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec17/ch234/ch234e.html

Posted by grimmyTea
Other people covered the iron part already. Iron supplementation helps, but the ultimate cause of the anemia is lack of erythropoeitin that is normally produced by healthy kidneys.

The nausea and loss of appetite are symptoms of uremia. Basically, healthy kidneys are needed to get rid of waste products, like urea. When your kidneys aren't working properly, the waste products build up and make you feel sick. I couldn't tell you exactly what the urea is doing to make you feel nauseated or lose appetite.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments! Learn basic information on kidney disease from the experts at Kidney Disease Info Blog.

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