Proteinuria as a risk factor for the progression of chronic renal disease

The problem of proteinuria was recognised twenty-four hundred years ago, when Hippocrates noted the association between “bubbles on the surface of the urine” and kidney disease 1, . Proteinuria is a common finding in adults in primary health care practice. A wide variety of conditions, ranging from benign to lethal, can cause proteinuria. Benign causes include fever, intense activity or exercise, dehydration, emotional stress, acute illness, and exposure to cold. More causes that are serious are kidney damages, like in glomerulonephritis and multiple myeloma . A knowledgeable approach to this common condition and differentiation of benign and rarer, more serious, disorders causing proteinuria is required because the diagnosis has important ramifications for health, insurance eligibility and job qualifications .