Can You Reverse Kidney Disease? What the Evidence Says
Updated: 4 hours ago
The short answer
No, you cannot reverse kidney disease in the literal sense. Scarred filters do not heal, lost filters do not grow back, and chronic kidney disease has no cure. What can change are the two numbers that track kidney health: the protein leaking into your urine and your filtering score, which your doctor calculates from creatinine. Caught early and treated, those numbers can hold steady or improve, and for most people progression to kidney failure is uncommon. That is real, and it is a slowing or stabilizing of the disease, not the reversal that teas and supplements promise.
What we cover
What "reverse" really means, and why scarred or lost kidney filters do not grow back. The Lancet, 2021
The two numbers to track: your filtering score, calculated from creatinine, and the protein in your urine
Why about 1 in 5 people in a five-year study reached remission and only about 2 in 1,000 reached kidney failure. PLoS Medicine, 2016
The four things that genuinely move kidney numbers, starting with getting blood pressure and blood sugar under control
The kidney-protective medicines by name, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and SGLT2 inhibitors, which slowed decline in large trials. NEJM, 2020
Why no single food, tea, or supplement reverses kidney disease, and how some can raise potassium or phosphorus to dangerous levels
The two tests to ask your doctor for by name, and how to read them
Who the remission number applies to: an older primary-care population with stage 3 kidney disease, confirmed by two filtering estimates of 30 to 59 mL/min/1.73 m2 more than 90 days apart, rather than a trial that demonstrated kidney regeneration. Primary source
Timestamps
00:00 Can kidney disease be reversed?
01:04 Scarring, lost filters and what improvement means
01:40 Kidney filtration and urine protein
02:25 The five-year remission study
03:07 How the kidney trajectory can change
04:17 Blood pressure and blood sugar
04:40 Medications, treatable causes and daily habits
07:04 Miracle supplements and reversal claims
08:04 The blood pressure medication myth
09:28 Your action plan and the two tests
References
Kalantar-Zadeh K, Jafar TH, Nitsch D, Neuen BL, Perkovic V. Chronic kidney disease. Lancet. 2021;398(10302):786-802. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00519-5
Describes chronic kidney disease and the role of treating its causes and preserving remaining function. Evidence type: narrative review.
Shardlow A, McIntyre NJ, Fluck RJ, McIntyre CW, Taal MW. Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care: Outcomes after Five Years in a Prospective Cohort Study. PLoS Med. 2016;13(9):e1002128. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002128
In an older primary-care population, kidney outcomes included remission and stability as well as progression; those findings cannot be assumed to apply to every age or kidney disease. Evidence type: prospective observational cohort.
Heerspink HJL, et al. Dapagliflozin in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(15):1436-1446. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2024816
DAPA-CKD reduced kidney-disease progression and kidney failure, including in participants without diabetes. Evidence type: randomized trial.
EMPA-KIDNEY Collaborative Group. Empagliflozin in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease. N Engl J Med. 2023;388(2):117-127. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2204233
EMPA-KIDNEY reduced progression of kidney disease across a broad range of participants, including people without diabetes. Evidence type: randomized trial.
One study explained in plain language every week, with sources attached, plus the free kidney health guide: https://guides.selfprinciple.org/kidney
This content is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for individual care. The views expressed are Dr. Sean Hashmi's own and do not represent his employer.
Never start, stop, or change the dose of any prescription medication without consulting your physician.
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