Nephrotic Syndrome in Adults?

How common is nephrotic syndrome?
Nephrotic syndrome is a combination of symptoms that can occur due to different causes. Among adults, the syndrome is most often caused by rare kidney diseases.

Who is more likely to develop nephrotic syndrome?
Nephrotic syndrome can affect children and adults of all ages.1

What causes nephrotic syndrome?
Many disorders can cause nephrotic syndrome, including diseases that affect only the kidneys and diseases that affect many parts of the body, such as diabetes and lupus NIH external link.

How do health care professionals diagnose nephrotic syndrome?
Your health care professional can diagnose nephrotic syndrome through urine tests. The urine tests show if you are losing too much protein in your urine.

Tests for diagnosing nephrotic syndrome
Urine dipstick test. This simple test checks for albumin in your urine. Having albumin in the urine is called albuminuria. You collect the urine sample in a container during a visit to a health care professional’s office or lab. A health care professional places a strip of chemically treated paper, called a dipstick, into the urine for the test. The dipstick changes color if albumin is present in the urine.

Tests for identifying the cause
Once nephrotic syndrome has been diagnosed, your health care professional will use tests to identify what caused it and check your kidney function. Tests for finding the cause of nephrotic syndrome can include3

Treating underlying causes
Other treatments vary, depending on underlying causes. In some cases, you may need to take medicines that suppress your immune system. For more on how health care professionals treat the underlying causes of nephrotic syndrome, see the NIDDK health topic Glomerular Diseases.

Once the cause has been treated, nephrotic syndrome may go away and kidney function returns to normal. Some patients may experience periods of remission followed by times when symptoms reappear. In some cases, nephrotic syndrome may lead to kidney failure.

Clinical Trials for Nephrotic Syndrome
The NIDDK conducts and supports clinical trials in many diseases and conditions, including kidney diseases. The trials look to find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease and improve quality of life.

What clinical studies for nephrotic syndrome are looking for participants?
You can view a filtered list of clinical studies on nephrotic syndrome that are federally funded, open, and recruiting at www.ClinicalTrials.gov NIH external link. You can expand or narrow the list to include clinical studies from industry, universities, and individuals; however, the National Institutes of Health does not review these studies and cannot ensure they are safe. Always talk with your health care provider before you participate in a clinical study.