Rain, Rain, Go Away…

We had a day of rain.  I know that’s not a terribly unusual statement, but this is Arizona. July and August are our rainy months; it’s only April. Well, we do know the climate is changing. .. and we do know it’s affecting our health. That includes the rain. How? Most often – aside from sun showers – if it’s raining, the sun isn’t shining.

So? What’s the big deal, I can almost hear you ask. You’re not out there getting your 10 to 15 sunscreenless-before-the-day-heats-up minutes of the best source of vitamin D if it’s raining, my friends. Of course, there are supplements and loads of us, like me, take them. But the gold standard? Natural sunlight.

Bear even got me a hammock chair so I could sit in the sun really, really comfortably for my 10 to 15 minutes. So comfortably, that I found him in my chair once too often when I wanted to be in it and bought him one of his own. Now we can get at least 10 to 15 minutes together each day.

According to the National Kidney Foundation at https://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/nr/Low-Vitamin-D-Levels-Linked-to-Early-Signs-of-KD:

“Researchers found that those who were deficient in vitamin D were more than twice as likely to develop albuminuria (a type of protein in the urine) over a period of five years. Albuminuria is an early indication of kidney damage as healthy kidneys capture protein for use in the body.

‘There have been a number of studies establishing a relationship between vitamin D levels and kidney disease,’ said Thomas Manley, Director of Scientific Activities for the National Kidney Foundation. ‘This study supports that relationship and shows that a low vitamin D level increases the likelihood of developing protein in the urine, even among a general population.’”

That’s not all, folks.  I jumped back to my very first Chronic Kidney Disease book, What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease for more information about vitamin D and our kidneys:

“The kidneys produce calcitrol which is the active form of vitamin D. The kidneys are the organs that transfer this vitamin from your food and skin [sunshine provides it to your skin] into something your body can use. Both vitamin D and calcium are needed for strong bones. It is yet another job of your kidneys to keep your bones strong and healthy. Should you have a deficit of Vitamin D, you’ll need to be treated for this, in addition for any abnormal level of calcium or phosphates.  The three work together. Vitamin D enables the calcium from the food you eat to be absorbed in the body. CKD may leech the calcium from your bones and body. Phosphate levels can rise since this is stored in the blood and the bones as is calcium.  With CKD, it’s hard to keep the phosphate levels normal, so you may develop itchiness since the concentration of urea builds up and begins to crystallize through the skin. This is called pruritus.”

All for the lack of a little sunshine! Yes, I am being dramatic and, yes, you can take supplements, but that’s like drinking juice instead of eating the whole fruit and expecting the same benefits.

In The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2, I wrote the following:

“I have many more articles in front of me, so I’m going to simply list the areas in which low vitamin D is involved.

• cardiovascular
• Chronic Kidney Disease {The purpose of this blog, lest we forget}
• health hip fracture risk
• hepatitis B {Have you decided to take the inoculation against this?}
• hypertension
• stroke

Got how dangerous low levels of vitamin D can be?  Good.”

Uh-huh, vitamin D is a big deal… especially for us since we have CKD.  According to The National Institutes of Health at https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/,

“A growing body of research suggests that vitamin D might play some role in the prevention and treatment of type 1 … and type 2 diabetes …, hypertension …, glucose intolerance…, multiple sclerosis …, and other medical conditions….”

Oh, there’s also a good possibility that vitamin D deficiency is a factor in obesity. As one who is constantly attempting to lose weight, I have one thing to say about that, “Go.sit.in.the.sun.”

I’ve been getting questions about transplantation, as in how to, what it entails, and who to contact. I don’t have the answers, but the Erma Bombeck Project does. This is from an email I received from The National Kidney Foundation of Arizona:

Today, over 100,000 Americans are waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant. The Erma Bombeck Project provides facts and reliable resources to help individuals save a life – whether by registering to be a non-living organ donor, or considering the gift of life through living donation. The project aims to narrow the gap between the number of individuals desperately waiting for a kidney and the number of kidneys available.

We invite you to visit the new, improved site www.ErmaBombeckProject.orgwhere you can find features like:

Facts on kidney donation
A free, downloadable Living Donor Guide
Living Donor Educational Videos
Links to additional resources

I urge you to take a look at the site should this interest you … and I really hope it interests you.

I finally got my print copy of SlowItDownCKD 2015 and am so pleased with the way it turned out that I am seriously considering redoing the formats for The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Parts 1 and 2.  Those orphan (standing all alone) blog titles at the bottom of the page always bothered me. Of course, there won’t be any difference if you purchased the digital copy of the books.

In a few days, I’ll be on my way to San Antonio – specifically Lackland Air Force Base – where my step daughter’s sweetheart will graduate from basic training. I’m eager to try out my on-the-road exercise and food ideas during the 14 plus hour drive. Bear is going too, of course, so I’ll have my staunchest supporter with me. And Lara is very respectful of my needs and has even offered to water walk with me since the hotel has a pool. This should be fun! Anyone have any sightseeing recommendations?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!