Demystifying Kidney Disease for the Average Joe!

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...

After I wrote my last post on the treatment options that patients with advanced kidney disease and kidney failure  have when it comes to managing their disease, I came across a really nice 10 minute long video on YouTube that pretty much summarizes everything that I wrote in that article. The video goes into options that patients with kidney disease will typically have- dialysis being the most common one, transplantation, and finally not doing anything aggressive and treating it conservatively (I have written on conservative management and what happens when patients refuse dialysis here ).  The video also covers questions like when to start dialysis, and the decision making that goes in to deciding who would make a good candidate for home dialysis. All in all, it is a great way in which kidney disease patients and their loved ones can educate themselves. The format is engaging and you won't have to read pages of text that many patients find boring!  The video...