10 interesting facts about your kidneys Have you ever wondered where your kidneys actually are? Or if you can survive with just one kidney? Do you know what the hieroglyphic for wee is? Read this article to find out the answers and learn many more interesting and strange facts about the kidneys! 1. Your kidneys are […]
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Sick day rules – AKI prevention in CKD patients If CKD patients become sick and dehydrated (usually secondary to an infection, e.g. urine, chest or gastrointestinal), they should be advised to withhold the 7 groups of medications below. This is because these drugs can precipitate AKI during such illnesses. And if they can be stopped
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Pros and cons of dialysis vs a kidney transplant In advanced CKD (CKD5; kidney failure) there are three options: dialysis, kidney transplantation, or supportive care (not having either). In this article we will describe the pros and cons of dialysis or a kidney transplant. It would seen obvious that a kidney transplant is ‘better’ than
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If you are not sure whether to choose haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, this article may be able to help you Let’s start with some basics. Whats is dialysis? Dialysis is an artificial method of filtering the blood to remove toxins, excess salts and water – in other words, the normal role of the kidneys. There
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CKDEx videos A patients story – Darren, the Tiktok kidney warrior @ttkwarrior Question time with Doctor Andy Stein. Doctor Andy is a consultant Nephrologist at Coventry Hospital. #doctorandy #ttkwarrior #kidneydoctor #kidneyexpert #chronickidney #kidneyquestions ♬ original sound – Tiktok Kidney Warrior How the kidneys work Kidney physiology (health professionals) This is the science behind
In a recent study Hao et al (CJASN, 2023) studied nearly 4000 Chinese patients with IgA nephropathy. Why does this matter? IgA nephropathy is the commonest type of glomerulonephritis, which is responsible for 10% of the patients on dialysis. The effects of immunosuppression (drugs to suppress the immune system) in the treatment of IgA nephropathy
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CKD places a huge burden on patients, their families, and the economy. CKD affects 10% of the population and the condition results in an annual cost of approximately £1.4 billion to the NHS (overall budget is now approximately £180 billion) – about 1% of the NHS budget. CKD and heart disease In addition, CKD confers
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What is the urinary albumin–creatinine ratio (uACR)? Albumin is one of the major proteins in the blood and is too large to be filtered by the kidneys. So healthy kidneys keep the albumin in your blood, whilst filtering the creatinine out into the urine. So, there should be very little or no albumin in your
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Why is this case important? Nephrotic syndrome is rare, as is bilateral retinal detachment. When two unusual things happen at the same time (especially in different body systems), you should always ask yourself ‘are they connected?’ Also, a rapid diagnosis is required when permanent visual loss is a possibility. What happened? In a recent case
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Glossary of useful renal (kidney) words A Abdomen = (commonly called the belly) is the body space between the thorax (chest) and pelvis. Access for dialysis = three different types of access can be used for haemodialysis. They are called a fistula (arteriovenous fistula, AVF), a graft, and a haemodialysis catheter (‘line’). For peritoneal dialysis,
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