The various chronic kidney diseases differ from another in the underlying condition, such as diabetes, hypertension, HIV and/or auto-immune diseases, that caused the initial damage and started the vicious cycle leading to kidney failure.
Despite the differences in aetiology, glomerular inflammation is the driving factor behind progression in each of these diseases. Therefore, the major component of CKD treatment consists of immune suppression drugs, and has been for the last 50 years.
The systemic nature of these drugs is the reason for the frequently reported horrific side-effects including fatigue, infections, infertility and even cancer.
In many of these diseases, damage is done to the glomerulus, the filtration unit of the kidney. In response to this damage, inflammation is initiated, which often causes more damage, constituting a vicious cycle, ultimately leading to complete kidney failure.
Once insufficient kidney function is left, endogenous toxins start to accumulate in the body, slowly poisoning the person. In this stage the only options left are dialysis or kidney transplantation.