How can kidney function be measured?

Q: My 45 years old mother is diabetic for the last 12 years and hypertensive for the last 4 years. She consulted a gastroenterologist for her acidity problem and the doctor advised an ultrasound. The ultrasound results revealed that she is suffering from bilateral renal parenchymal disease. Does this mean that the kidneys are damaged completely? What is the treatment for this?

A:Ultrasound of kidneys can only tell us how kidney looks rather than the function of the kidney. To find out how much kidney is functioning, you should do kidney functions like, serum urea and creatinine levels, spot urine albumin to creatinine ratio, and if need be, DTPA (99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) glomerular filtration rate by nuclear scintigraphy. Only then can we tell the degree of damage.