Chronic Renal Failure (CRF)

Chronic renal failure: Now more commonly classified as chronic kidney disease and is listed as stages based on the patient's level of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) which is a measure of filtering capacity of the kidneys. Chronic kidney failure or chronic renal failure signifies loss of kidney function that occurs over a prolonged course of time as opposed to acute renal failure.  The loss of renal function may be due to previous episodes of acute renal failure with subsequent long term kidney damage or may be due to diseases which cause progressive deterioration of the kidney such as primary kidney diseases (glomerulonephritis) or secondary disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, or auto-immune disorders.  The loss of kidney function may be progressive but with therapy of the underlying cause the damage can be halted and in some cases the kidney function may actually improve.