Health Information
Nephrotic Syndrome
Cause
Nephrotic syndrome is caused by damage
to the tiny blood vessels in the
Reference kidney Opens New Window Reference 
Opens New Window that filter waste and excess water from the
blood.
Many conditions and diseases can cause nephrotic syndrome, including:
- Minimal change disease (also called nil disease), a type of kidney disease. The cause of minimal change disease is unknown. But this disease causes most of the cases of nephrotic syndrome in children.
- Membranous glomerulopathy and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, which are two other diseases of the kidney. Both of these diseases affect the Reference glomeruli Opens New Window. The glomeruli help filter waste out of your blood. In focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, some of the parts of the glomeruli have scar tissue. This can affect how they filter the blood. In membranous glomerulopathy, the tissue wall (membrane) that separates blood and urine and acts as a filter in your kidney becomes thickened and damaged.
- Reference Diabetes Opens New Window and Reference lupus Opens New Window. Diabetes is the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults.
- Infections, such as Reference HIV Opens New Window, Reference hepatitis B Opens New Window, Reference or hepatitis C Opens New Window.
- Cancer
- Medicines, such as Reference nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Opens New Window, penicillamine, gold therapy, or captopril.
- Illegal drugs, such as heroin.
- Conditions such as Reference preeclampsia Opens New Window, chronic Reference graft rejection Opens New Window following an organ transplant, and Reference allergic reactions Opens New Window to bee stings.
- Unknown (idiopathic) factors.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: Reference May 7, 2012 |
| Medical Review: | Reference Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Tushar J. Vachharajani, MD, FASN, FACP - Nephrology |
|
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