Demystifying Kidney Disease for the Average Joe!

Pain, both acute and chronic, is commonly prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) . This is due to the myriad diseases that often coexist in kidney disease patients (like arthritis, diabetes, obesity, etc). I had earlier written a post on how certain painkillers adversely affect the function of the kidneys. So we know that many pain medications are bad for your kidneys. We also know that even if some pain medications are not directly toxic to your kidneys, they can still accumulate in your body and affect other organs in patients who have kidney disease. It saddens me when patients with pain come to my office after being told that they can't take a particular pain medication because "their kidney numbers have worsened". Granted that could certainly happen; but not coming up with an alternative and leaving patients "marooned" is also a disservice to them. What then could be some viable options for patients with kidney disease to deal with thei

I look at the artificial kidney that I talked about in my last post as a sort-of futuristic automaton. It can work (in principle) on the body's internal power (the blood pressure) and does not require the frequent tweaks (again, in principle) that are required with conventional dialysis; thus giving patients more freedom with their lives. However, the technology that really has the trans-humanist in me jumping up and down with excitement is the promise of regenerating a "natural" human kidney in the lab. In Greek mythology, Prometheus' liver would regenerate even after an eagle nibbled on it every day, all while the poor fellow lay chained to a rock (he was lucky the eagle didn't mess with his kidneys, which don't quite possess the same regenerative capacity!). My fantasy is not quite the same, but what I had always conceptualized is that with the advances in regenerative medicine, we might be able to just play God, and "make a kidney", a rea

Over the last few decades, we have seen the accumulation of evidence that supports the health benefits of plant-based diets. Vegetarian diets have been shown to be associated with a lower incidence of obesity, hypertension ,  diabetes , and coronary artery disease . Since all these entities are risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD), it might be reasonable to assume that these diets might actively reduce the risk of CKD development and progression. However, at the very outset, let me emphasize that any diet, vegetarian or not, comes with the same restrictions that are advised for patients with CKD . For instance, potassium intake might need to be restricted in advanced CKD. Fruits, a significant portion of the vegetarian diet, are an important source of potassium, and will need to be appropriately restricted. So you have to watch what you eat regardless. More importantly, you owe it to yourself to know what exactly is there in the food that you eat.