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IgA nephropathy (Berger’s disease): the signs, the biopsy, and the treatment
For anyone just told they have IgA nephropathy, waiting on a kidney biopsy, or who saw pink, cola-colored or foamy urine and was told it might be IgA nephropathy, and for their families. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s disease, is a common kidney disease, and that in many cases it does not get worse over time. This page passes on, by name, what NIDDK says: what it is and who is more likely to have it; the signs and what it can lead to; the tests and the kidney biopsy; the kinds of medicine and the daily habits; and food, family, and the research. It builds the words to say and the questions to ask, and prints a card to keep in your wallet.
A word with a dotted line under it, like this, opens its official definition, quoted from a U.S. government glossary.
Right now
- Trouble breathing, chest pain, or fainting? Call 911 (ours).
- Peeing very little or not at all, or swelling that comes on fast? Get care right away; if you cannot reach your provider, go to the emergency room, and say you have IgA nephropathy (ours).
- Pink, red, cola-colored or foamy urine? Call a provider and say what you saw and when (ours). NIDDK says these signs are common across diseases and do not, by themselves, mean IgA nephropathy.
- Worn down, or thinking of ending your life? Call or text 988, any hour (ours).
More help
- The kidneys, on this site: Kidney disease · Nephrotic syndrome · Kidneys, bladder and urine: find the right page · Blood in the urine.
- Tests: Getting ready for a kidney biopsy · Medical tests: find the right page.
- Related: High blood pressure · High cholesterol · Quit smoking · Celiac disease · Hepatitis.
- Getting ready: My medicines list · Get ready for your appointment.
- Care and costs: When you need a doctor and can’t pay · Medical bills.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Kidneys, bladder or urine, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for bladder infections, kidney stones, blood in the urine, bladder pain, bladder leaks, the prostate, kidney disease and bedwetting, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- Kidney failure: choosing a treatment (dialysis, a transplant, or conservative care): kidney failure (kidneys failing or about to fail; choosing between hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, a kidney transplant, or conservative management, care without dialysis): the signs and when to start, how to choose and change your mind, an advance directive, dialysis at a center or at home, the access, infection signs, the transplant waiting list and living donors, food by treatment, work, and paying for it (Medicare, Medicaid, the social worker).
- Glomerular disease: the signs, the causes, the tests, and the treatment: glomerular disease (FSGS, lupus nephritis, membranous nephropathy, minimal change disease and others; foamy or cola-colored urine, swelling, or a kidney biopsy that showed it): what it is, the causes and who gets it, the signs and what it can lead to, the tests and the biopsy, the kinds of medicine and kidney failure, and food, family and research.
- Polycystic kidney disease (PKD): the types, the signs, the tests, and slowing it down: polycystic kidney disease (PKD; many fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys, often in the family; pain in the back or sides, headaches, high blood pressure, blood in the urine): what it is, the two types (ADPKD in adults, ARPKD in babies) and the genes, the signs and what it can lead to (kidney failure, brain aneurysms, liver cysts), the imaging and genetic tests and genetic counseling, pain medicine and the kidneys, a blood pressure goal, the steps that may slow it, food and drink, and the costs.
- One kidney (a solitary kidney): the checkups, keeping it safe, and giving a kidney: one kidney, a solitary kidney (born with one, had one removed, or gave one): the three causes, what it can lead to, the urine, blood and blood pressure checkups, medicines and sports, pregnancy, and giving a kidney.
- Kidney disease in children: the signs, the causes, the treatment, and school: kidney disease in a child (acute kidney injury or chronic kidney disease; swelling, foamy or pink urine, peeing more or less, or wetting the bed again): what it is, which children get it and the causes, the signs and what it can lead to, the tests and the kidney doctor for children, the kinds of medicine, dialysis and transplant, and school (an IEP or a 504 plan), friends and feelings.
- Kidney stones: the signs, when it is an emergency, passing a stone, and preventing the next one: kidney stones: the signs, when it is an emergency, passing a stone, and preventing the next one.
- IgA vasculitis (HSP): the rash, the belly and joint pain, the kidneys, and the treatment: IgA vasculitis, formerly Henoch-Schönlein purpura or HSP (a raised rash that does not turn pale when pressed, belly or joint pain, or blood in the urine, most often in a young child): what it is, the symptoms and when to get help, the tests and months of kidney checks, the treatment, and a later pregnancy.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 18, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page IgA Nephropathy (last reviewed September 2022), which is in English and in Spanish. The numbers (about 1 in 10 kidney biopsies in the United States show IgA nephropathy; about 1 in 5 people with it develop kidney failure within 10 years of diagnosis; more common at ages 10 to 40) are NIDDK’s. Ours: 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain, or fainting; getting care right away for very little or no urine or swelling that comes on fast; calling a provider about pink, red, cola-colored or foamy urine; never stopping or changing a prescribed medicine on your own; asking about side effects, relatives and clinical studies; 988 when it is too much; health centers when money is tight; and the order of the steps. What we left out: the references, the list of open studies on ClinicalTrials.gov and the video, and NIDDK’s outside links. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.