KundanKidneyCare - Kundan Kidney Care Centre

Creatinine is a chemical waste molecule that is generated from muscle metabolism. Creatinine is produced from creatine, a molecule of major importance for energy production in muscles. Approximately 2% of the body’s creatine is converted to creatinine every day. Creatinine is transported through the bloodstream to the kidneys. The kidneys filter out most of the creatinine and dispose of it in the urine.

Because the muscle mass in the body is relatively constant from day to day, the creatinine production normally remains essentially unchanged on a daily basis.

The kidneys maintain the blood creatinine in a normal range. Creatinine has been found to be a fairly reliable indicator of kidney function. Elevated creatinine level signifies impaired kidney function or kidney disease.

As the kidneys become impaired for any reason, the creatinine level in the blood will rise due to poor clearance of creatinine by the kidneys. Abnormally high levels of creatinine thus warn of possible malfunction or failure of the kidneys. It is for this reason that standard blood tests routinely check the amount of creatinine in the blood.

A more precise measure of the kidney function can be estimated by calculating how much creatinine is cleared from the body by the kidneys. This is referred to as creatinine clearance and it estimates the rate of filtration by kidneys (glomerular filtration rate, or GFR). The creatinine clearance can be measured in two ways. It can be calculated (estimated) by a formula using serum (blood) creatinine level, patient’s weight, and age. The formula is 140 minus the patient’s age in years times their weight in kilograms (times 0.85 for women), divided by 72 times the serum creatinine level in mg/dL. Creatinine clearance can also be more directly measured by collecting a 24-hour urine sample and then drawing a blood sample. The creatinine levels in both urine and blood are determined and compared. Normal creatinine clearance for healthy women is 88-128 mL/min. and 97 to 137 mL/min. in males (normal levels may vary slightly between labs).

Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level is another indicator of kidney function. Urea is also a metabolic byproduct which can build up if kidney function is impaired. The BUN-to-creatinine ratio generally provides more precise information about kidney function and its possible underlying cause compared with creatinine level alone. BUN also increases with dehydration.

Kidney Disease, Kundan Kidney Care Centre, Risk Factors

E. Coli and Kidney Problems

KundanKidneyCare May 4, 2015

Sometimes a person’s kidneys are adversely affected not just by their own lifestyle, but by illnesses they have little control over. One example was recently discussed in an article in the online version of the British Medical Journal. Several researchers analyzed information from the Walkerton Health Study. This study followed the health of citizens of the Canadian town of Walkerton, Ontario, after their municipal water system was infected with E. coli O157:H7 in May of 2000. Almost two thousand people who had contracted gastroenteritis at the time were monitored for several years.

The results indicated a higher likelihood of experiencing high blood pressure, heart problems, and renal impairment for those who had been infected and developed gastroenteritis symptoms than for those who had not. The risk of high blood pressure was 1.3 times higher, the chance of having either a stroke or heart attack was almost twice as high, and the likelihood of kidney problems was about three times higher.

This analysis is not only pertinent in cases like that of Walkerton, in which E. coli contamination hits an entire community. Most warmblooded organisms have forms of E. coli in their systems, and it is also found in many environments. Most strains are not harmful, but those like O157:H7 can be deadly. The presence of E. coli often indicates fecal contamination, yet it also enters an environment in other ways.

What this means is that people can contract gastroenteritis from E. coli in ways apart from disasters like that which struck Walkerton. So for those who do encounter these bacteria, whether through mass contamination or in less obvious ways, it is important to monitor their health carefully from that point on. As well as being at a higher risk for blood pressure or heart problems, they will need to be on the watch for potential kidney problems as well.

(Further reading: British Medical Journal, reference BMJ 2010; 341:c6020, November 17, 2010; Medical News Today, November 21, 2010)

Kidney Diet, Kidney Disease, Kundan Kidney Care Centre

Lowering Salt Will Always Help Your Kidneys

KundanKidneyCare May 3, 2015

The idea seems straightforward when you think of high blood pressure: if you lower your salt intake, you will help to lower the blood pressure, or at least prevent it from getting worse. But the systems in our bodies don’t operate in isolation, and the good you do for one of them is bound to have positive effects in others. This was demonstrated yet again by a review conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration Renal Group.

This group reviewed thirteen studies relating to salt intake in diabetic patients. What they found was not entirely surprising, but the implications of their conclusions are widespread. First of all, they confirmed once again the connection of high salt intake and blood pressure issues. So clearly, diabetics would do well to reduce salt levels in their diet for that reason alone, because this reduction lowers the risk of strokes, heart attacks, and heart failure.

But the evidence gathered in the same studies also reinforces the understanding that high blood pressure is just as hard on the kidneys as on the heart. The studies also suggested that even for people whose blood pressure hasn’t yet inched into the “high” range, lowering salt intake will still have a positive effect on heart and kidney health.

This isn’t necessarily a rule condemning people to a life of tasteless food, however. Removing salt from one’s diet provides the opportunity to discover the natural, intrinsic tastes of food, and to combine these tastes into something that as delicious without needing a salty boost. While easing the blood pressure and helping the heart and kidneys, the lessening of salt might open up a whole new culinary world.

(View the Cochrane Renal Group Summary: Suckling RJ, He FJ, MacGregor GA. Altered dietary salt intake for preventing and treating diabetic kidney disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 12. Art. No.: CD006763. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006763.pub2)

(Further reading: PulseToday, December 9, 2010; Nursing Times, December 10, 2010)

Kidney Disease, Kundan Kidney Care Centre

Polycystic: Not Your Garden Variety Kidney Disease

KundanKidneyCare May 1, 2015

Most of the kidney disease people experience is caused by factors such as high blood pressure or as a complication of conditions like diabetes. But Polycystic Kidney Disease (or PKD) is a type of kidney disease that is of a completely different order. This is a condition that results from a person’s own genetic makeup.

The disorder, as its name suggests, causes multiple cysts to form mainly in the kidneys, although they can appear in other parts of the body too. These cysts are filled with fluid, and often enlarge the kidneys, sometimes until they weigh several pounds. The cysts take up space normally available for filtering purposes, which can ultimately lead to kidney failure. They also create higher blood pressure, which can go on to do other damage to the kidneys as well.

Symptoms of PKD, apart from high blood pressure, can include back pain, blood in the urine, an increase in abdomen size, and kidney stones. Cysts may also be found in other parts of the body such as the liver or pancreas, and they may even cause aneurysms in the brain.

Diagnosis is often not made until this condition has progressed quite far, but if a family member is known to have PKD, a person’s own chances of having it are increased. Blood and urine tests often don’t detect the problem early either, but ultrasound imaging, at least, can detect cysts greater than a half inch in size. Genetic tests can discern whether a person has the gene for PKD.

There is no prevention or cure available for PKD, but detection of the gene does give a person a chance to take some control. Regulating diet and blood pressure can help, and there are treatments for results of PKD such as pain, kidney stones, and headaches. As with all other forms of kidney disease, a healthy diet and blood pressure control are some of the most helpful steps to take.

(Further reading: Mayo Clinic – Polycystic Kidney Disease; MedicineNet.com – What is Polycystic Kidney Disease?)

Kidney Disease

High Blood Pressure and Kidney Disease

KundanKidneyCare April 29, 2015

High blood pressure is one of the risk factors for kidney disease. This doesn’t mean that blood pressure problems always lead to problems with the kidneys, but high blood pressure is certainly one of the things that can cause them damage. But how exactly does it do that?

According to MedicineNet.com, the damage from high presure is caused not just to the kidneys, but to a person’s blood vessels in general. The measurement of one’s blood pressure involves how much force the blood exerts against the walls of the blood vessels as the heart pumps. Various factors like retention of fluid or clogged vessels can make the heart work harder and increase the pressure as it works to push blood through.

One reason high blood pressure can lead to kidney problems is that it damages the blood vessels there as well as in other parts of the body. This sometimes results in substances collecting along the inside walls of the blood vessels, thickening them so that the blood pressure goes up. And a vicious cycle can often be created, in which the kidneys can’t remove all the wastes carried in the blood vessels, which leads to a higher fluid volume in the blood vessels, which leads to higher blood pressure.

As is the case with other physical causes of kidney disease, the root issue is frequently that the kidneys are simply made to work much harder than they should. Eventually they simply wear out, and stop being capable of filtering wastes out of the blood. Damage caused to blood vessels by high blood pressure is one of the insidious ways kidneys can be harmed.

People most often think of strokes and heart attacks as dangers people can face if they have high blood pressure. But kidney failure is another major risk, and demonstrates another reason why it is absolutely necessary to keep one’s blood pressure under control.

(Further reading: MedicineNet.com; Wikipedia – Hypertensive Nephropathy)

Kidney Disease

Diabetes as a Cause of Kidney Disease

KundanKidneyCare April 27, 2015

There are different types of kidney disease, and different ways that the kidneys can begin to fail. In some cases, the cause of disease in someone’s kidneys stems from genetic factors that are out of the control of the sufferer. But the vast majority of causes are things that a person has some control over.

One of the well-known conditions that can lead to kidney disease is diabetes, but not everyone understands how a diabetic condition might eventually produce problems with the kidneys. As blood flows to the kidneys, impurities are filtered out while the healthy, more useful material, such as protein or blood cells, continue through the blood stream. But as sugar levels in the blood increase, the kidneys find themselves filtering more and more material.

What eventually occurs is that protein cells, too, begin to “leak” into the kidneys and get discarded in the urine. This happens because as the kidneys find themselves working much harder to filter the blood properly, eventually they start wearing out, and will become permanently damaged if the process is not somehow reversed. In the early period, this condition is called microalbuminuria, and it’s at this stage — when extra protein starts showing up in the urine, indicating a problem — at which the process may be stopped. If it progresses to macroalbuminuria, a high level of protein, the kidneys are damaged enough that complete failure is the most likely result.

Regular testing of protein levels in the urine can help a diabetic guard against the development of this problem. But the best way to try to prevent kidney disease in diabetics is to keep the blood sugar levels carefully controlled, and to control blood pressure as much as possible. Diabetes may be a condition that is inevitable for some people, if their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin. But kidney disease as a result of diabetes doesn’t have to be equally inevitable.

(For more detailed information, check the American Diabetes Association.)

Kidney Disease

Pomegranates and Kidney Disease – Natural Wins Again!

KundanKidneyCare April 21, 2015

People who advocate for more natural, less chemically-oriented treatments for bodily ailments got a boost recently, from a study showing that kidney patients on dialysis fared better when they drank pomegranate juice. The oral presentation, “One Year of Pomegranate Juice Consumption Decreases Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Incidence of Infections in Hemodialysis Patients,” was given on Thursday, November 18, 2010, at the American Society of Nephrology’s 43rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Denver, Colorado, as a part of Renal Week 2010.

Several researchers in hospitals in Israel did a year-long study in which they gave some dialysis patients pomegranate juice before their dialysis treatment, while other patients took a placebo. The researchers discovered that those who drank the pomegranate juice showed reduced inflammation and “oxidative stress.” While these things don’t halt the kidney disease itself, they significantly reduce complications that often stem from dialysis itself.

Kidney patients tend to die more from infections or cardiovascular-related problems. So it’s no small matter that those who took the pomegranate juice were shown to end up with fewer infections. They also tended to have lower blood pressure and fewer cardiovascular problems. The juice also improved their lipid profile, and had good antioxidant properties.

The researchers caution that this doesn’t mean kidney dialysis patients should start guzzling pomegranate juice all day long. The juice does have some potassium in it, and patients with chronic kidney disease could suffer potassium overload, which could also be harmful to the kidneys.

But taking pomegranate juice and monitoring potassium levels carefully could provide one way of easing pressure on the kidneys and improving the health and longevity of kidney patients. Further clinical trials are needed, but this most recent study suggests these patients could really benefit from this natural, healthy remedy.

Kidney Disease

Taking Your Blood Pressure Meds Can Improve Kidney Disease Outcomes

KundanKidneyCare April 18, 2015

You’d think it would be completely straightforward. Since one of the things that sometimes results from kidney disease is higher blood pressure, a kidney disease sufferer with hypertension problems would naturally take their medication. But a recent report has suggested that one-third of these patients actually don’t maintain their blood pressure treatments.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center have just published a report that describes this problem. They took two years’ worth of data from 7,227 patients at the VA who had chronic kidney disease (CKD), and who also suffered from hypertension. And this was when they uncovered the astonishing fact that about thirty-three percent of these patients either didn’t take their blood pressure medications, or had what was described as “poor medication adherence.”

The consequence appears to be a twenty-three percent higher likelihood of a worse outcome for those CKD patients themselves, when it comes to the progression of the disease. Doctor Charuhas Thakar, associate professor at the university and chief of the renal division at the VA, points out that high blood pressure is “probably the most important modifiable risk factor in chronic kidney disease.” This means that if patients are able to regulate their blood pressure and reduce the strain on the kidneys, they can do much better at improving their kidney health and, incidentally, lowering medical costs.

The report has just been published in the November 2nd online edition of the American Journal of Nephrology. Doctor Thakar points out that the results of this analysis need further confirmation, since all of this data came only from one place. But certainly this news suggests that people with CKD should not neglect their blood pressure medication if they suffer from hypertension.

(Further reading: UC Academic Health Center News Release, November 3, 2010)

Kidney Disease

Diabetes Drug and Polycystic Kidney Disease

KundanKidneyCare April 9, 2015

It’s well known that there’s a relationship between kidney disease and diabetes, but usually that connection is thought of as a causal one. That is, people with diabetes are at higher risk of developing kidney disease, because high glucose levels and high blood pressure can damage the kidneys. But now researchers from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, along with fellow researchers from the Mayo Clinic, have uncovered a connection between the two that’s a bit more positive.

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is somewhat different from other types of kidney disease in that it is caused by genetic factors. These lead to the growth of cysts in the kidneys, gradually reducing kidney function. But the researchers have now discovered that pioglitazone, a substance that treats diabetes by making the body more sensitive to insulin, does other things as well. One of those is to inhibit what is called a “chloride channel.”

This made the researchers sit up and take notice, since excessive chloride and water, which helps kidney cysts expand and multiply, is a characteristic of PKD. Pioglitazone is already approved for use for other conditions, and has a “good safety profile,” according to researcher Bonnie L. Blazer-Yost. This drug may be just what is needed to treat PKD and stop cyst progression, because at the moment, there are few other options for treating PDK.

Blazer-Yost and her other colleagues have published their paper in the online medical journal, PPAR Research. They hope that human trials for the use of this drug on PKD can be conducted in the not-too-distant future. It could mean real hope for effective treatment for many who have no other realistic hope at the moment.

(Further reading: Medical News Today, November 15, 2010)

Health, Kidney Disease, Kundan Kidney Care Centre, Risk Factors

Pain Killers Bad for Kidneys, Worse for CKD

KundanKidneyCare April 6, 2015June 3, 2019 Leave a comment

Do you pop pills at the slightest pain? If you are a pill-popper here is something you should know about analgesics also known as pain killers. They may relieve your pain but may be harming a vital organ in your body: your kidneys. Even worse is those analgesics further reduce blood flow to the kidney when a person suffers from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

How can the use of analgesics hurt the kidneys? The long term use of ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and other higher dose aspirin can cause chronic interstitial nephritis. For this reason, over the counter (OTC) pain relievers should not be used for more than 10 days and fever reducers for more than three days. This is clearly indicated in the warning labels of OTC analgesics. OTC analgesics include aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and ketoprofen. Prescription analgesics are also available, and are usually stronger than OTC ones.

Additionally, analgesics and Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) have been known to contribute to gastrointestinal bleeding and stomach ulcers. The use of NSAIDs also increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. NSAIDs are a group of pain relievers that include ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and ketoprofen.

It is strongly recommended that analgesics be used as prescribed by your doctor, or as stated on the label for OTC drugs; they should be taken at the lowest dose; and used for a short period.

Those with reduced kidney functions are not recommended to take higher dose aspirin and NSAIDs. If necessary, kidney patients should take NSAIDs under a doctor’s care. NSAIDs also have contra-indications for people with heart disease, liver disease, high blood pressure and those over 65. These pills increase the risk of kidney failure and cause progressive kidney damage.

Meanwhile, acetaminophen is the recommended analgesic for kidney patients. Aspirin is not recommended because it acts as a “blood thinner” and may cause bleeding complications. Patients on regular acetaminophen use should be supervised by their doctors. Alcohol should be avoided while on this medication.

The good news is kidney disease caused by the use of analgesics is PREVENTABLE! Here are some guidelines on how to use analgesics without harming your kidneys: Remember what was earlier said about prolonged use? Well OTC analgesics should not be used for more than 10 days for pain, and more than 3 days for fever. Drink at least eight glasses of fluids daily when taking analgesics, and avoid drinking alcohol. Analgesics with a mixture of painkillers and caffeine in one pill should be avoided. These can drastically damage the kidneys. Read the warning labels for all OTC analgesics. Those with underlying medical conditions like high blood pressure, kidney or liver diseases should take NSAIDs under the doctor’s care. Last but not least, your doctor should be aware of all the medications you’re taking.

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Author Archives: KundanKidneyCare

What is Creatinine?

E. Coli and Kidney Problems

Lowering Salt Will Always Help Your Kidneys

Polycystic: Not Your Garden Variety Kidney Disease

High Blood Pressure and Kidney Disease

Diabetes as a Cause of Kidney Disease

Pomegranates and Kidney Disease – Natural Wins Again!

Taking Your Blood Pressure Meds Can Improve Kidney Disease Outcomes

Diabetes Drug and Polycystic Kidney Disease

Pain Killers Bad for Kidneys, Worse for CKD