• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
CORE Kidney

CORE Kidney Program

CORE Kidney
  • About Us
    • Director's Welcome
    • In the News
    • Photo Gallery
  • Clinical Programs
    • About the Clinical Research Program
    • Alport Syndrome
    • Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
    • Diabetic Kidney Disease
    • ESRD | Dialysis
    • Fabry's Disease
    • Glomerulonephritis Program
    • Hypertension
    • Kidney Stone Program
    • Living Kidney Donor
    • Music Program
    • OncoNephrology (Kidney Disease in Cancer Patients)
    • PKD Center
    • Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)
    • Transplant Research and Education Center
    • Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
  • Educational Presentations
  • Outreach
    • Green Ribbon Spotlights
    • Upcoming Events
    • Virtual UCLA CORE Kidney Health Conference
    • UKEEP
  • Our Expert Team
    • Nephrology
    • Bruin Beans
    • Cardiology
    • Circle of CORE Ambassadors
    • Clinical Fellows
    • Endocrinology
    • Gastroenterology
    • General Surgeon
    • Genetics
    • Hematology
    • Hepatology
    • Pediatrics
    • Post-Doc Fellows
    • Primary Care Physicians/Internal Medicine
    • Psychologist
    • Radiology (Interventional)
    • Transplant
    • Urology
  • COVID-19
    • General Information
    • How COVID-19 Affects CKD Patients
    • What You Can Do
  • Make a Gift
    • Monetary Donations and Philanthropy
    • Volunteer Your Time
    • Register to be an Organ Donor
    • Become a Living Organ Donor
  • Patient Resources
    • Conditions Treated
    • Our Locations
    • Make an Appointment
    • Education
    • Patient Stories
    • Ask the Experts
    • Support Groups
    • Other Resources
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

CORE Kidney Program

Patient Resources

Patient Resources

Patient Resources

  • Conditions Treated
  • Our Locations
  • Make an Appointment
  • Education
    • Kidney Acronyms & Medical Terms
    • Kidney Physiology
    • Kidney Preventative Care
    • Tests for Kidney Disease
    • The Kidneys & Aging
    • Acidosis
    • Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
    • Alport Syndrome
    • Anemia & Kidney Disease
    • Bone Disease
    • Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
    • Complement Disorders
    • Diabetes and Kidney Disease
    • Dialysis- Modalities
    • Electrolytes
      • Disorders of Sodium Balance
      • Disorders of Potassium Balance
      • Disorders of Calcium Balance
      • Disorders of Phosphate Balance
    • End Stage Kidney Disease
    • Exercise
    • Fabry's Disease
    • Glomerulonephritis
    • Heart Disease
    • Hematuria
    • Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
    • High Blood Pressure
    • Home Hemodialysis (HHD)
    • Hyponatremia and Cancer
    • IgA Nephropathy
    • Kidney Stones
    • Living Kidney Donors
    • Lupus and Kidney Disease
    • Medications
    • Meditation
    • Minimal Change Disease
    • Multiple Myeloma & Kidney Disease
    • Music
      • HealthTunes
    • Nephrotic Syndrome
    • Nutrition
    • Paraneoplastic Glomerular Disease
    • Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)
    • Pet Therapy
    • Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)
    • Proteins In Kidney Disease
    • Proteinuria
    • Transplant
    • Urinary Tract Infection
    • Vaccines
    • VEGF Inhibitors & Kidney Disease
    • What are the Roles of a Nephrologist in the Care of Kidney Cancer Patients?
  • Patient Stories
  • Ask the Experts
  • Support Groups
    • Kidney Transplant
    • Polycystic Kidney Disease
  • Other Resources
  • Conditions Treated
  • Our Locations
  • Make an Appointment
  • Education
  • Patient Stories
  • Ask the Experts
  • Support Groups
  • Other Resources
  • Kidney Acronyms & Medical Terms
  • Kidney Physiology
  • Kidney Preventative Care
  • Tests for Kidney Disease
  • The Kidneys & Aging
  • Acidosis
  • Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
  • Alport Syndrome
  • Anemia & Kidney Disease
  • Bone Disease
  • Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
  • Complement Disorders
  • Diabetes and Kidney Disease
  • Dialysis- Modalities
  • Electrolytes
  • End Stage Kidney Disease
  • Exercise
  • Fabry's Disease
  • Glomerulonephritis
  • Heart Disease
  • Hematuria
  • Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Home Hemodialysis (HHD)
  • Hyponatremia and Cancer
  • IgA Nephropathy
  • Kidney Stones
  • Living Kidney Donors
  • Lupus and Kidney Disease
  • Medications
  • Meditation
  • Minimal Change Disease
  • Multiple Myeloma & Kidney Disease
  • Music
  • Nephrotic Syndrome
  • Nutrition
  • Paraneoplastic Glomerular Disease
  • Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)
  • Pet Therapy
  • Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)
  • Proteins In Kidney Disease
  • Proteinuria
  • Transplant
  • Urinary Tract Infection
  • Vaccines
  • VEGF Inhibitors & Kidney Disease
  • What are the Roles of a Nephrologist in the Care of Kidney Cancer Patients?
  1. Home
  2. Patient Resources
  3. Education
  4. Medications

Medications

Share this

 

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is the pathological condition where the kidney function is impaired due to a specific reason. As kidney function declines and the disease progresses the patients’ CKD stages progress from stage 1 to 5 and finally to the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). The development of CKD and ESRD can cause various disturbances in the serum electrolyte (e.g., phosphorus, calcium) and hormonal levels (e.g., parathyroid hormone, erythropoietin) and therefore, require treatment with specific medications. Patients with CKD and ESRD who are on dialysis may require more of these medications based on the severity of the serum electrolyte and hormonal level disturbances. The dose requirements are also depended on these levels. Each of these medication families has its specific mechanism of action, adverse effect profile, contraindications 

 

The following sections provide a summary of the secondary conditions that develop in CKD and ESRD patients and their corresponding treatments. 

 

CKD-MBD (MINERAL BONE DISEASE) 

 

HIGH SERUM PHOSPHATE (Hyperphosphatemia) 
PHOSPHATE BINDERS 

Purpose of Phosphate Binders: To control serum phosphate levels in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients. These medications need to be consumed with the meals in order to be effective.  

 

Phosphate Based Phosphate Binders 

  • Sevelamer carbonate/hydrochloride (generic), Renvela/Renagel (brand) 

 

Calcium Based Phosphate Binders 

  • Calcium Carbonate (generic), TUMS (brand) 
  • Calcium Acetate (generic), PhosLo 

Calcium acetate: Drug information 

Iron Based Phosphate Binders 

  • Sucroferric Oxyhydroxide (generic), Velphoro (brand) 

Sucroferric oxyhydroxide: Drug information 

Other Class 

  • Lanthanum Carbonate or Fosrenol (brand) 

Lanthanum carbonate: Drug information 

 HIGH SERUM PARATHYROID HORMONE  

Patients with CKD develop hyperparathyroidism as an outcome (Secondary Hyperparath 

  • Cinacalcet (generic), Sensipar (brand) – Oral  
  • Parsabiv – IV  

 

Cinacalcet: Drug information 

CKD-ANEMIA 

Patients who have anemia secondary to CKD are treated by intravenous iron and/or intravenous erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs). The treatment is based on the serum levels of Hemoglobin (being the most important factor), transferrin saturation (TSAT), ferritin as well as red blood cell (RBC) count, reticulocyte count, serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), serum folate and vitamin B12. The ultimate goal is to prevent the Hemoglobin dropping which may require blood transfusion(s). 

  • ESAs (epoetin and darbepoetin) – Epogen & Procrit (brand) 
  • Iron formulations: ferric carboxymaltose (Ferinject, Injectafer), ferric gluconate (Ferrlecit), ferumoxytol (Feraheme), iron sucrose (Venofer), iron dextran (INFeD, CosmoFer). 

 

HIGH SERUM URIC ACID (Hyperuricemia) 

  • Allopurinol – Oral  

 

LOW SERUM CALCIUM (Hypocalcemia) 

One of the main causes of hypocalcemia in CKD patients is Vitamin D Deficiency. This is especially true in late CKD stages or patients with ESRD who are on dialysis. These patients require intravenous active vitamin D analogs more so than they require oral calcium.   

  • Vitamin D analog – Doxercalciferol (Hectorol) 

 

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (Hypertension) 

Hypertension can be a condition of its own, or can be caused by another disease/syndrome. Since patients with hypertension can have many other coexisting conditions such as Diabetes and prostate enlargement hypertensive medications should be prescribed by their physicians by taking these factors into consideration. Here is a list of frequently prescribed anti-hypertensive medications with their generic and brand names:   

  • Calcium Channel Blockers: Amlodipine (Norvasc), Nifedipine (Adalat, Afeditab, Procardia), Diltiazem (Cardizem) 
  • Beta Blockers: Atenolol (Tenormin), Propranolol (Hemangeol), Metoprolol (Lopressor), Carvedilol (Coreg) 
  • Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs): Benazepril (Lotensin), Captopril (Capoten), Lisinopril (Prinivil)  
  • Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs): Valsartan (Diovan), Losartan (Cozaar) 

 

EDEMAFLUID OVERLOAD 
Diuretics are a group of medications that enable the kidneys produce urine by filtering unnecessary amount of fluids, electrolytes (ex: sodium, potassium) the blood circulation has. The following are oral diuretic agents that are used by CKD patients: 

  • Furosemide (generic), Lasix (brand) 

Drugs and Medications: What You Should Know

Disclaimer: The UCLA Health System cannot guarantee the accuracy of such information. The information is provided without warranty or guarantee of any kind. Please speak to your Physician before making any changes. 

Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest
UCLA Health hospitals ranked best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report
  • UCLA Health
  • Find a Doctor
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Subscribe
  • Patient Stories
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • International Services
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Billing
  • Health Plans
  • Emergency
  • Report Broken Links
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-310-825-2631
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Your Feedback
  • Report Misconduct
  • Get Social
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest

Sign in to myUCLAhealth

Learn more about myUCLAhealth