Renal Clinic Online

Careful assessment of abnormal kidney tests, blood or protein in the urine, swelling and kidney stones — interpretation of test results and a clear plan.

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Appointments in Swedish, English and Arabic
Evidence-based care
Written plan after every visit

About the clinic

Nephrology is the specialty where the illness is usually found by a test result rather than by the patient. Kidney function can be considerably reduced before any symptoms appear at all — which makes the interpretation of creatinine, eGFR and albuminuria the core of the whole specialty. At the same time, kidney failure is one of the conditions where early detection makes the greatest difference to the long-term course.

We translate your kidney values into what they actually mean for you — how quickly function is changing, what affects it, and which medicines need adjusting. It is rarely the number itself that matters, but the direction over time.

Who we help

You with an abnormal creatinine or eGFR
You with albumin or protein in the urine
You with blood in the urine
You with swelling in the legs, feet or face
You with high blood pressure that is hard to treat
You with suspected chronic kidney disease
You with diabetes and a risk to the kidneys
You with kidney stones or recurrent stone problems
You with suspected inflammation of the kidneys
You with recurrent urinary tract infections
You with polycystic kidneys or inherited kidney disease
You who would like a second opinion on kidney test results

Symptoms

Conditions

Chronic kidney disease
Acute kidney injury
Diabetes-related kidney disease
Hypertension-related kidney disease
Glomerulonephritis
Nephrotic syndrome
Albuminuria and proteinuria
Kidney stones
Polycystic kidney disease
Drug-induced effects on the kidneys

Services and examinations

A renal history and symptom assessment
Interpretation of creatinine, eGFR, electrolytes and urine tests
Assessment of albuminuria, haematuria and blood pressure
A medication review focused on kidney safety
Follow-up of chronic kidney disease where digital care is suitable

Online care does not replace emergency care, a physical examination, a kidney biopsy or hospital-based treatment where those are needed.

How it works

1Book and describe your main problem online.
2Upload previous results if you have them — test results, examinations, medication list.
3Video consultation — review of your history and targeted questions.
4A clear plan — next steps, any treatment, and a timeframe for follow-up.

What to prepare

A timeline of your symptoms (when it started, what triggers or relieves it)
Current medications and doses
Known allergies and previous illnesses
Previous test results and examinations, with dates if possible
Your three most important questions for the visit

Call your local emergency number immediately or go to the nearest emergency department if you have:

A sharp fall in urine output, or passing no urine at all
Severe flank pain with fever
During an ongoing infection: sudden confusion, rapid or laboured breathing, violent shivering, skin that has turned mottled, pale or bluish, or passing noticeably less urine than you usually do — these can be signs of sepsis. Call your local emergency number. Fever does not have to be present.
Rapidly increasing swelling with breathlessness
Confusion, or a marked deterioration in general condition, in someone with known kidney disease
Pressing or cramping chest pain that doesn't ease within 15 minutes, or that radiates to the arm, neck, jaw or back — as well as difficulty breathing in someone with known kidney disease

Digital care cannot replace emergency services. If unsure, seek care immediately.

Our doctors

See available doctors and book an appointment

Frequently asked questions

When should I book an appointment with a kidney specialist?

If you have an abnormal creatinine or eGFR, albumin or blood in the urine, swelling, blood pressure that is hard to treat, or if you would like a second opinion.

Do I need test results before the appointment?

Not always, but please upload them if you have them.

Can you make a diagnosis online?

In some cases; others require a physical examination, repeated tests or an ultrasound.

Can you interpret previous tests and imaging reports?

Yes.

What happens after the appointment?

A plan with the next steps — new tests, follow-up, a focus on blood pressure, or a medication review.

Can you follow up chronic kidney disease?

Yes, where digital care is suitable.

Can you help with kidney stones?

We give an initial assessment and guidance; acute stone attacks often require in-person care.

What do I do if things get worse?

Does reduced kidney function mean I will need dialysis?

For the great majority, no. Moderately reduced kidney function is common, particularly with increasing age, and most often progresses slowly or not at all.

Which medicines affect the kidneys?

Several common ones, among them NSAID painkillers. Bring your full medication list, including anything bought over the counter.

Fifteen common conditions

Chronic kidney disease

Typical age: Adults; more common with increasing age.
Background: Reduced kidney function, or signs of kidney damage, lasting at least three months.
Symptoms: Often few symptoms to begin with.
What the doctor looks for: eGFR and albuminuria over time.
Investigations: Blood tests, urine tests.
Diagnosis: A reduced eGFR or albuminuria on repeated measurement.
Management: Directed at the underlying cause, with blood pressure control.
Follow-up: Regular blood tests.
Prognosis: Varies with the degree and the cause; good with early detection.
What you can do yourself: Good blood pressure control is the single most important thing you can do to slow the course.
When should you book?: For a newly found reduction in eGFR, or for regular follow-up.

Acute kidney injury

Typical age: All adult ages.
Background: A rapid deterioration in kidney function, over days to weeks.
Symptoms: Can be subtle; reduced urine output.
What the doctor looks for: The triggering factor (dehydration, infection, medication).
Investigations: Blood tests, and a review of medication.
Diagnosis: A rapid change in creatinine.
Management: Directed at the cause; often requires in-person care.
Follow-up: Close until recovery.
Prognosis: Varies; can be reversible if acted on early.
What you can do yourself: With dehydration or vomiting — pause NSAIDs and drink properly; both protect the kidneys.
When should you book?: For acutely worsening kidney values. For reduced urine output with a deterioration in general condition — emergency care.

Diabetes-related kidney disease

Typical age: People with diabetes.
Background: Diabetes is a common cause of kidney damage.
Symptoms: The early sign is often albuminuria with no other symptoms.
What the doctor looks for: Albuminuria and blood glucose control.
Investigations: Urine tests, blood tests.
Diagnosis: Albuminuria in someone with diabetes.
Management: Blood glucose and blood pressure control, with targeted medication.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Good with early detection and treatment.
What you can do yourself: Good blood glucose and blood pressure control protects the kidneys more than anything else.
When should you book?: For albuminuria, or for the annual kidney check in diabetes.

Hypertension-related kidney disease

Typical age: Adults with long-standing high blood pressure.
Background: Long-standing raised blood pressure can damage the kidneys.
Symptoms: Often no symptoms at all.
What the doctor looks for: Blood pressure control and kidney test results.
Investigations: Blood pressure measurement, blood tests.
Diagnosis: Kidney involvement in someone with hypertension.
Management: Blood pressure control.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Good with good blood pressure control.
What you can do yourself: Home blood pressure measurement and reducing salt have a directly kidney-protective effect.
When should you book?: For blood pressure that is hard to treat alongside abnormal kidney values.

Glomerulonephritis

Typical age: All ages, both children and adults.
Background: Inflammation of the filtering units of the kidney.
Symptoms: Often found through a urine or blood test with no clear symptoms; sometimes blood in the urine or swelling.
What the doctor looks for: The test findings.
Investigations: Urine tests, blood tests, sometimes onward referral.
Diagnosis: Usually requires specialist investigation.
Management: According to the specialist plan.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Varies with the type.
What you can do yourself: Note whether the urine is frothy or dark — both are relevant findings.
When should you book?: For blood or protein in the urine that is not explained by an infection.

Nephrotic syndrome

Typical age: All ages.
Background: A heavy leak of protein from the kidneys.
Symptoms: Swelling, frothy urine.
What the doctor looks for: The degree of albuminuria, and the swelling.
Investigations: Urine tests, blood tests.
Diagnosis: A clinical picture with heavy albuminuria and oedema.
Management: According to the specialist plan.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Varies with the underlying cause.
What you can do yourself: Weigh yourself daily — a rapid gain reflects fluid building up.
When should you book?: For increasing swelling around the eyes and legs alongside frothy urine.

Albuminuria and proteinuria — investigation

Typical age: All adult ages.
Background: Protein in the urine, an important marker of kidney damage.
Symptoms: Usually none; it is picked up on testing.
What the doctor looks for: The degree and how long it has been present.
Investigations: A repeat urine test.
Diagnosis: Confirmed on repeated measurement.
Management: Directed at the cause.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Depends on the underlying cause.
What you can do yourself: Avoid hard exercise in the day before the test — it can give falsely raised values.
When should you book?: For repeated albuminuria on urine testing.

Kidney stones

Typical age: Adults.
Background: Mineral deposits in the kidney or the urinary tract.
Symptoms: Sudden severe flank pain, sometimes blood in the urine.
What the doctor looks for: The pain pattern.
Investigations: The clinical picture; imaging through in-person care for acute symptoms.
Diagnosis: Imaging.
Management: Pain relief, fluids, sometimes a physical procedure.
Follow-up: According to the course.
Prognosis: Good; many stones pass on their own.
What you can do yourself: Drink enough for your urine to stay pale — that is the most effective preventive measure there is.
When should you book?: For recurrent stone attacks. For severe pain with fever — emergency care.

Severe pain that does not ease, or a fever, requires emergency care — see the safety box.

Polycystic kidney disease

Typical age: Adults; an inherited condition.
Background: Cysts develop in the kidneys over time.
Symptoms: Often no symptoms for a long time; sometimes flank pain or high blood pressure.
What the doctor looks for: Family history and kidney function.
Investigations: Imaging, and a review of previous findings.
Diagnosis: Often already made; this concerns follow-up.
Management: Blood pressure control and monitoring of kidney function.
Follow-up: Regular.
Prognosis: Varies; slowly progressive in many people.
What you can do yourself: Blood pressure control is central and slows the course.
When should you book?: For regular follow-up, or where it runs in the family and you have never been investigated.

Drug-induced effects on the kidneys

Typical age: All adult ages.
Background: Some medicines can affect kidney function, particularly when you are dehydrated.
Symptoms: Often none; it is picked up on testing.
What the doctor looks for: The medication list, and the timing.
Investigations: Blood tests, a medication review.
Diagnosis: A link between the medicine and the change in test results.
Management: Adjustment of medication on medical assessment.
Follow-up: Repeat tests.
Prognosis: Often reversible if picked up early.
What you can do yourself: Be particularly careful with NSAIDs when dehydrated, feverish or vomiting — that combination is the most common cause.
When should you book?: For worsening kidney values after starting a new medicine.

Recurrent urinary tract infections

Typical age: All ages; considerably more common in women.
Background: Defined as three or more infections a year, or two within six months. Common, troublesome, and often handled with repeated courses of antibiotics without the underlying cause being investigated — even though there are frequently factors that can be addressed.
Common symptoms: Recurrent burning, urgency and a frequent need to pass urine.
What the doctor looks for: The pattern, any link to intercourse or the menopause, and signs of obstruction to flow.
Investigations: A urine culture (it matters to verify that it really is an infection), sometimes an ultrasound of the urinary tract.
How the assessment is made: By separating genuine infections from recurrent symptoms without bacterial growth.
Management: Targeted antibiotics; preventive measures; topical oestrogen after the menopause has a well-documented effect.
Follow-up: After preventive treatment has been started.
Risk factors to know: The menopause (oestrogen deficiency), intercourse, diabetes, incomplete bladder emptying, previous urinary tract surgery.
Common misconception: That you always need antibiotics. With recurrent symptoms, preventive measures are often more effective than more courses.
What you can do yourself: Pass urine after intercourse, drink enough, and don't hold on.
When should you book?: For three or more infections a year, so the cause can be investigated rather than just the episodes treated.
Prognosis: Good — most people improve considerably with preventive treatment.

Kidney function and medication dosing

Typical age: All adult ages; most relevant in older people.
Background: Many medicines are cleared through the kidneys, which means that reduced kidney function can let a drug accumulate in the body. This is a common and underestimated cause of side effects in older people — and almost always fixable by adjusting the dose.
Common symptoms: Often vague — fatigue, dizziness, confusion, nausea — and misread as ageing rather than as a side effect.
What the doctor looks for: Kidney function in relation to the whole medication list.
Investigations: Calculation of kidney function; a systematic medication review.
How the assessment is made: By comparing doses against current kidney function.
Management: Dose adjustment, or a change of preparation.
Follow-up: After the adjustment.
Risk factors to know: Older age, several medicines, low body weight, dehydration, recently worsened kidney function.
Common misconception: That a dose which has worked for years always stays right. Kidney function falls with age, which can make a previously correct dose too high.
What you can do yourself: Bring a complete medication list, including over-the-counter medicines and food supplements.
When should you book?: Where kidney function is reduced and you take several medicines, or for new vague symptoms in an older person.
Prognosis: Very good — adjusting the dose usually solves the problem completely.

Blood in the urine (haematuria)

Typical age: All adult ages; of greater significance after 50.
Background: Blood in the urine has many benign causes — infection, stones, exertion — but it is also one of the most important symptoms for the early detection of urinary tract cancer. That is why visible blood in the urine in an adult must always be investigated, even if it has only happened once.
Common symptoms: Red or brown urine (visible), or blood that only shows up in a test result (microscopic).
What the doctor looks for: Whether there is pain at the same time (which more often points to stones or infection) or whether the bleeding is painless (which calls for more investigation).
Investigations: Urine test and culture; imaging and cystoscopy through in-person care where the blood is visible.
How the assessment is made: From age, risk factors, and whether the blood is visible or only microscopic.
Management: Directed at the cause.
Follow-up: According to the findings.
Risk factors to know: Smoking (the strongest risk factor for bladder cancer), age over 50, occupational exposure to certain chemicals, previous radiotherapy to the pelvis.
Common misconception: That blood in the urine which goes away does not need investigating. A single episode of visible haematuria is always investigated in adults.
What you can do yourself: Note the colour, whether it hurt, and whether you have eaten beetroot or taken any medicine that can colour the urine.
When should you book?: Every time there is visible blood in the urine, even a one-off.
Prognosis: Good — most causes are benign and treatable.

Swelling and fluid retention

Typical age: All adult ages; more common with increasing age.
Background: Fluid retention can come from the kidneys, the heart, the liver or the veins — and the pattern of the swelling often reveals which. Kidney-related swelling typically starts around the eyes in the morning, while heart-related swelling starts in the legs and worsens through the day.
Common symptoms: Swollen legs or feet, swelling around the eyes, rapid weight gain, pressure marks in the skin.
What the doctor looks for: Where the swelling is worst and at what time of day — that points towards an organ system.
Investigations: Blood tests (kidney and liver function, albumin), a urine test for albuminuria; ECG and echocardiography where the heart is suspected.
How the assessment is made: By mapping the pattern of the swelling before individual organs are investigated.
Management: Directed at the cause.
Follow-up: According to the findings.
Risk factors to know: Kidney disease, heart failure, liver disease, certain blood pressure medicines, prolonged sitting, a high salt intake.
Common misconception: That swollen legs are always "poor circulation". The kidneys, the heart and the liver are all common causes and need different treatment.
What you can do yourself: Weigh yourself daily and note where the swelling is worst in the morning and in the evening.
When should you book?: For new or increasing swelling, particularly alongside breathlessness or frothy urine.
Prognosis: Good once the cause is identified and treated.

Kidney function in older age — what is normal?

Typical age: From 65 onwards.
Background: Kidney function declines naturally with age — an 80-year-old has on average a considerably lower eGFR than a 30-year-old without being ill. That creates a great deal of unnecessary worry when results are read without an age perspective, while genuine kidney disease must still not be missed.
Common symptoms: None — this is about interpreting a test result.
What the doctor looks for: Whether the value is stable over time (which suggests an age-related decline) or falling (which calls for investigation), and whether there is albuminuria.
Investigations: Comparison of kidney values over time; a urine test for albuminuria.
How the assessment is made: By judging the trend rather than a single value, and always taking albuminuria into account.
Management: Often none — but medication doses may need adjusting.
Follow-up: An annual check where values are stable.
Risk factors to know: Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, NSAID use — these make the decline faster than normal ageing.
Common misconception: That a reduced eGFR in an older person always means kidney disease. A stably reduced value without albuminuria is usually age-related and needs only follow-up.
What you can do yourself: Bring previous test results — the trend across years says considerably more than a single value.
When should you book?: For kidney values that are falling over time, or when you have had a result you want to understand.
Prognosis: Very good where the decline is stable and age-related.

Contact

Book appointment info@medix7.com

The information on this page is general patient information and does not replace an individual medical assessment. Digital care has limitations and cannot handle emergencies — see the emergency box above. If you are unsure, contact healthcare services or your local emergency number.

About this content

This information draws on established Swedish clinical sources, primarily 1177 Vårdguiden, Internetmedicin and Läkemedelsboken. It is general patient information and does not replace individual medical assessment.