How to Diagnose Brights Disease

Bright's disease, or nephritis, an inflammation of the filtering units in the kidneys, can be so mild that it's virtually impossible to detect until you have routine labwork done. Other times, symptoms can be severe. To attempt detection:

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Blood Pressure Monitors

1. Evaluate your urine: If you're urinating less often or pass less when you do, or if you notice bits of mucus, tissue, blood or a foul odor, this may indicate Bright's disease.

2. Ask yourself if you've recently had strep throat, scarlet fever or impetigo. These diseases can precede an episode of Bright's disease.

3. Check your blood pressure. Sudden hypertension can sometimes be an indication of kidney disease.

4. Assess yourself for signs of swelling, especially of your face, hands, ankles and feet. This can be a sign of chronic Bright's disease.

5. Have a routine urinalysis done. This simple test can detect the presence of sediment, red and white blood cells, protein, high levels of BUN and serum creatinine in your urine, all of which can suggest Bright's disease.

6. Consent to a series of blood tests to detect subtle changes in your kidneys' metabolism and function.

7. Be throughly examined by a board-certified physician. If you suspect you may have kidney disease, consider seeing a genitourinary specialist.

Tips & Warnings

• Kidney disease of any type should never be ignored. Always see a doctor if your urine changes in volume, odor or appearance, or if you're urinating less frequently.
• For an accurate diagnosis of Bright's disease, you must see a physician.
• This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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on 8/8/2006 I was also laid up in a hospital in 1967, at age 7 for a long period and ordered to stay in bed for up to a year. The doctor ordered me to do no exercise for the first 6 months and only light swimming in a pool for a year. We didn't have a pool. There were other people in my ward with less severe cases and many of them died.

Unlike the original poster, I refused to listen to the doctor's orders. I began challenging the other patients on the floor to wheelchair races and made several unsuccessful attempts to navigate my wheelchair down the fire escape. My record was 2-1/2 landings, the key statistic being the 1/2. I would sneak around that hospital constantly making the nursing staff keep an eye on my 24/7. Once I sneaked out and got a Quarter pounder with cheese and smuggled in extra salt packets to spice up the hospital food. Of course salt was a severe no-no.

I was trained on the use of the dialysis machine and was told that, even if I made it, I would be hooking up several times a day. I made a full recovery with the only negative result being that the Marines would not accept me for combat enlistment when I turned 18. On hindsight, Bright's Disease probably saved my life.

If you are reading this, good luck to you and yours.

on 3/20/2006 My aunt, great-aunt and great-grandmother all died from Bright's Disease as young or middle-aged women. My sister came down with acute Bright's Disease when we were little, 7 or 8. She made it, but it took a long time. I guess that medical science had progressed enough for her to live through the illness. I'm glad to find this site.

on 4/17/2007 At age 9 I was diagnosed with this disease. I was bedridden for two years and tutored. I was fatigued and tired a lot, and was on a no salt diet for that period of time. My pediatrician at that time thought it might have something to do with my having overdosed on children's aspirin when I was 3. At about age 10-12 I was declared ridden of Bright's Disease, and decades later I learned that a great Aunt had died of it, so I do believe it can and does have some validity as to being hereditary. Thank you so very much, those of you who have contributed your comments. I read also where one should be alerted to mucous in the urine. At age 48 I had a 35 pound mucinous tumor removed, however, I do not know if this is related to the Bright's Disease I had as a child or not.

on 11/22/2005 I was diagnosed with Brights disease when I was eight years old. I am a female, so the doctor misdiagnosed me for almost a year before I had such edema in my face and extremities that people did not recognize me. When I finally was diagnosed I was sent home and told to have total bed rest. I had a tutor for one whole year. When I graduated from high school my family doctor told my mother he never thought I would live to see the day. I also was not supposed to be able to have children,I have five very healthy children with no sign of the disease. I do monitor by health, eat a low sodium diet, exercise and if I have even the slightest edema, I notify my doctor and get a urine test. Please do not just assume your child is putting on weight if they have a sudden increase, especially to the face and extremities, get them checked. Insist that the doctor listen! The squeaky wheel gets the attention, and with your child it could mean their life.

on 11/22/2005 When I was a child I had acute Bright's Disease. The doctor who treated me gave me sulfa drugs and instructions of complete bed rest. My feet were not to touch the floor. This lasted for nine months. For a 7 year old child to have to stay in bed this long was not pleasant. That was in 1967, and since that time I have married and have three grown children (something the doctor said he doubted I would ever be able to do). I have known people who have died with Bright's Disease. I am sure it is because they refused to be bedridden for a long period of time. The cure is - antibiotics, complete and total bed rest, and close medical observation.