Stress Is as Stress Does

I have been so stressed lately. It’s the usual: Covid-19, the elections, etc. But then there are the personal reasons: my upcoming surgery, Bear’s cataract surgery and being his caretaker, the third under-the-slab water leak in our house, and my brother’s ill health come to mind right away. I do take time to quietly read, play Word Crush, or watch a movie, but the stress is still there… and my blood glucose numbers are going up. “Is there a correlation?” I wondered. 

You may remember (I certainly do) that Healthline included this blog in the Best Kidney Disease Blogs for 2016 & 2017. They like my work; I like theirs, so I went to their website to see what I could find about stress and diabetes. I have diabetes type 2, by the way. That’s the type in which you produce insulin, but your body doesn’t use it well. 

Okay, now let’s see what Healthline at https://bit.ly/2TIHwWZ has to say: 

“… But there’s a problem. The body can’t differentiate between danger and stress. Both trigger fight-or-flight. 

So today’s most common ‘danger’ isn’t wild animals. It’s the letter from the IRS. There’s no quick resolution — no violent fight, no urgent need to run for miles. Instead, we sit in our sedentary homes and workplaces, our bodies surging with sugar, with no way to burn it off. 

That’s how stress messes with diabetes. Acute stress floods us with unwanted (and un-medicated) sugar. Chronic stress is like a leaking faucet, constantly dripping extra sugar into our systems. The impact on blood sugar caused by stress is so significant that some researchers feel it serves as a trigger for diabetes in people already predisposed to developing it.” 

Wait a minute here. “Acute stress floods us with unwanted (and un-medicated) sugar.” How does it do that? The answer I liked best is from Lark at https://bit.ly/3ebZU4b. Yes, Lark is a company that produces electronic aids for various stages of diabetes, but it also offers short, easy to understand explanations of what’s happening to your diabetes during different situations. 

“Cortisol signals your brain and body that it is time to prepare to take action. You may be able feel this as your heart pounds and muscles tense. At the same time, what you may not feel is that cortisol signals a hormone called glucagon to trigger the liver to release glucose (sugar) into your bloodstream. The result: higher blood sugar. 

Cortisol’s role in preparing your body for action goes beyond mobilizing glucose stores. Cortisol also works to make sure that the energy that you might spend (whether fighting a bear or running to stop your toddler from toddling into the street) gets replenished. That means you may feel hungry even when you do not truly need the food – and that can lead to weight gain. Again, the result is an increase in blood sugar.” 

Quick reminder: 

“Think of cortisol as nature’s built-in alarm system. It’s your body’s main stress hormone. It works with certain parts of your brain to control your mood, motivation, and fear. 

Your adrenal glands — triangle-shaped organs at the top of your kidneys — make cortisol. 

It’s best known for helping fuel your body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ instinct in a crisis, but cortisol plays an important role in a number of things your body does. For example, it: 

• Manages how your body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins 
• Keeps inflammation down 
• Regulates your blood pressure 
• Increases your blood sugar (glucose) 
• Controls your sleep/wake cycle 
• Boosts energy so you can handle stress and restores balance afterward” 

Thank you to WebMD at https://wb.md/35RaDgr for the above information. 

Let’s get back to how we end up with excess sugar in our blood due to both acute (sudden) and/or chronic (long term) stress. Diabetes Education Online, part of the Diabetes Teaching Center at the University of California, San Francisco, offers the following explanation. You can find out more by going to their website at https://bit.ly/3oNXgqi.    

“During stressful situations, epinephrine (adrenaline), glucagon, growth hormone and cortisol play a role in blood sugar levels. Stressful situations include infections, serious illness or significant emotion stress. 

When stressed, the body prepares itself by ensuring that enough sugar or energy is readily available. Insulin levels fall, glucagon and epinephrine (adrenaline) levels rise and more glucose is released from the liver. At the same time, growth hormone and cortisol levels rise, which causes body tissues (muscle and fat) to be less sensitive to insulin. As a result, more glucose is available in the blood stream.” 

Now I’m stressed about being stressed… and that’s after trying to keep my stress levels down so I don’t make my Chronic Kidney Disease worse… now I find it’s also making my diabetes worse. What, in heaven’s name, will happen if I continue to be this stressed? 

I went right to The National Kidney Foundation at https://bit.ly/2HQVsvs for an answer I could trust. 

“The combined impacts of increased blood pressure, faster heart rate, and higher fats and sugar in your blood can contribute to a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease). 

Stress and uncontrolled reactions to stress can also lead to kidney damage. As the blood filtering units of your body, your kidneys are prone to problems with blood circulation and blood vessels. High blood pressure and high blood sugar can place an additional strain or burden on your kidneys. People with high blood pressure and diabetes are at a higher risk for kidney disease. People with kidney disease are at higher risk for heart and blood vessel disease. If you already have heart and blood vessel disease and kidney disease, then the body’s reactions to stress can become more and more dangerous.” 

Oh, my! I think I’d better quietly read, play Word Crush, or watch a movie right now.  

Before I leave, I did want to let you know a $10 million Kidney Prize competition has been launched. If you’re seriously interested, go to https://akp.kidneyx.org. According to their website, KidneyX is 

“The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), is accelerating innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases.” 

Until next week, 

Keep living your life! 

Baby, It’s Hot Outside.

As a person with arthritis among other maladies, I regularly see my rheumatologist. “A rheumatologist is a board certified internist or pediatrician who is qualified by additional training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles, and bones,” according to HSS at https://www.hss.edu/rheumatology-rheumatologist.asp. During my appointment, she mentioned that my GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) was 46.

Panic! It’s almost always in the low 50s. She calmed me down by telling me that GFR is usually lower during the Arizona heat (I know, I know: but it’s a dry heat.) of the summer. I don’t know why I was surprised. It made sense.

Think about it. Let me re-enforce this with a statement taken from study on PubMed at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21617334/.

“However, the percent change in eGFR from spring to summer was greater in hypertensive patients with CKD… than in those without CKD …. “

PubMed is part of the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information.

I know hypertension (high blood pressure) is included in this statement, but the fact that GFR is lowered t than it’s lowered in those without hypertension leads us to the realization that those without hypertension DO have lower GFRs during the summer heat.

Another study from EuropePMC at https://europepmc.org/article/med/28946962 tells us:

“Recurrent dehydration in people regularly exposed to high temperatures seems to be resulting in an unrecognised cause of proteinuric chronic kidney disease, the underlying pathophysiological mechanism of which is becoming better understood. However, beyond heat waves and extreme temperatures, there is a seasonal variation in glomerular filtration rate that may contribute to the onset of renal failure and electrolyte disorders during extremely hot periods.”

Here are a couple of definitions you may need to understand the above statement. The first is from The Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/protein-in-urine/basics/definition/sym-20050656.

“Protein in urine — known as proteinuria (pro-tee-NU-ree-uh) — is excess protein found in a urine sample. Protein is one of the substances identified during a test to analyze the content of your urine (urinalysis).

Low levels of protein in urine are normal. Temporarily high levels of protein in urine aren’t unusual either, particularly in younger people after exercise or during an illness.

Persistently high levels of protein in urine may be a sign of kidney disease.”

The following definition is from MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10691.

“Pathophysiology: Deranged function in an individual or an organ due to a disease.”

So, it looks like dehydration is a key factor in lowering the GFR during the summer heat. We know that dialysis patients need to limit their liquid intake, but what about those of us who are not on dialysis but do have CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease)?

I went to MedicalNewsToday at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153363#symptoms for some facts about dehydration:

“Around three-quarters of the human body is water.

The causes of dehydration include diarrhea, vomiting, and sweating.

Individuals more at risk of dehydration include athletes, people at higher altitudes, and older adults.

Early symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, lethargy, and dizziness.”

Did you notice “sweating” and for those of a certain age like me “older adults”?

So, I gather I’m sweating out more liquids than I’m taking in. But how does that work exactly? I thought I was drinking sufficient amounts of fluid.

Biology Online at https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/sweating was a bit of an eye opener.

“Sweating is a way of our body to regulate body temperature. It is commonly used as a synonym for perspiration but in stricter sense perspiration pertains to the water loss as a cooling mechanism of the body and therefore It (sic) includes both the release of watery, salty fluid through the pores of the skin from the sweat glands and the evaporation of water from the skin (trans-epithelial) and respiratory tract. Thus, there exist two forms of perspiration, the sensible and the insensible water loss. In sweating, the process always entails the loss of both water and solutes…. The salty fluid is secreted as droplets or moist on the skin and is called as sweat. Environmental cues that could stimulate the body to produce sweat are high temperature and humidity of the surroundings.”

Oh, solutes. Those include the electrolytes that are so important to us as CKD patients. Orthology at https://orthology.com/myth-debunked-need-electrolytes-work/ offers us a simple explanation:

“The warmer the weather and the more you sweat, the more likely you’ll need electrolyte replacement. Again, this is just a general guideline and will differ by individual, activity and other factors. Pay attention to signs that your electrolyte levels are too low, such as muscle cramps, fatigue, dizziness, nausea or mental confusion.”

Aha, it’s excessively hot out. We drink more, but more sweat is being produced the higher the temperature is. When we sweat or perspire (since the two words are often used interchangeably), we are also exuding electrolytes. Now it all makes sense. An imbalance of electrolytes could lower your GFR. I turned to Tampa Cardio at https://tampacardio.com/causes-electrolyte-imbalance-body/ for confirmation.

“Electrolyte imbalances can cause a wide range of symptoms, some mild and some potentially life threatening. Electrolyte imbalances are commonly caused by loss of fluids through prolonged diarrhea, vomiting, sweating or high fever.”

But we’re already having problems with our electrolytes. No wonder excessive heat affects our GFR. As the University of Michigan’s Michigan Medical at https://www.uofmhealth.org/conditions-treatments/kidney/fluid-and-electrolyte-disorders states:

“Changes in the body’s levels of minerals including potassium, magnesium, calcium and sodium—and the corresponding impact these have on the body’s function, muscle strength and heart rhythm can be associated with disorders of kidney or endocrine glands.

Got it. Let’s all just stay in the air conditioning so we don’t lower our GFRs even more than the excessive heat does. In Arizonia, that probably means until November this year. That was a joke (I hope).

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Getting Ready

As I mentioned last week, I am lucky enough to be cancer free now and have returned to my other specialists. But we are experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic which means most of my doctors are conducting telemedicine appointments.

What are those? Let’s go to my favorite dictionary, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and see what we can see. I found this at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/telemedicine:

“the practice of medicine when the doctor and patient are widely separated using two-way voice and visual communication (as by satellite or computer)”

Surprisingly, I also discovered this has been in use since 1968. Maybe that’s why the phone and/or iPad type devices weren’t mentioned in the definition.

Of course, if you need to be examined physically, you’ll have to go to the doctor’s office. For example, poor Bear needed several mole biopsies last week. Obviously, he had to present himself at his dermatologist’s office to have these procedures carried out.

But I’ve been fortunate to be able to stick with telemedicine. Yet, you’ve got to be prepared for such doctor appointments. Do you have a thermometer? You’ll be asked for your temperature. We use both the DTT (digital temple thermometer) and Target’s talking thermometer (for those days when neither of us can find our glasses… really.) It seems the DTT we use is no longer manufactured, but the updated one is only about $15.00. The talking ear digital thermometer is more expensive. That one runs about double the price of the DTT. I did discover that digital mouth thermometers can be as low as $8.00. Non-digital oral thermometers start at about $6.00 You can compare prices online for the best deal. However, we are apparently old fashioned. The newest form of temperature assessment is the no contact digital scan thermometer. This one starts at about $50.

So, you have your temperature reading ready. What else will you need? I’ve always been asked for my blood pressure and pulse. I use an arm, rather than a wrist, device since my family doctor explained to me that the wrist device takes a reading through two bones. Those are the radius and ulna. The arm device takes your reading through only one bone, the humerus. She feels a reading through only one bone is more accurate. What device do I use? No matter which ones I’ve experimented with, I always return to Omron. It’s easy to use and accurate. These run from about $33 to over $100, depending upon how fancy you want to go. This description is from Amazon’s mid-price Omron:

“Platinum (new version)

• Trusted brand – Omron is the #1 recommended home blood pressure monitor brand by doctors and pharmacists for clinically-accurate home monitoring, and the #1 selling manufacturer of home blood pressure monitors for over 40 years.
• Unlimited memory and users with the free app – The Omron gold wrist monitor stores 200 total blood pressure readings for 2 users (100 per user, most of any Omron wrist blood pressure monitor). Memory and users are unlimited with the Omron connect free app which works with amazon alexa-enabled devices (on select IOS & android devices).
• High morning average indicator – Among Omron Amazon-exclusive blood pressure monitors, this feature is unique to the Gold and Platinum monitors. The indicator alerts the user if systolic or diastolic measurements are out of normal range in the morning, when there is a higher risk for heart attack or stroke.
• Dual display with backlight – The Omron Platinum monitor features a backlit dual-display LCD monitor with easy navigation that allows the user to immediately compare the current reading to the previous reading. The backlight feature is only available with the Platinum Monitor.
• AC adapter included – The Omron Ac Adapter eliminates the worry of changing batteries in your Omron Blood Pressure Monitor. The convenient AC adapter helps make sure your monitor is ready whenever you are.”

What else now? Let me think for a minute. Of course, if you are prediabetic or diabetic, you’ll be asked for your latest blood sugar readings. Believe it or not, I prefer WalMart’s no nonsense, no frills ReliOn Prime blood glucose monitor. In case you didn’t know, WalMart also operates as Sam’s Club. For my non-U.S.A. readers, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart, Walmart International operates in these countries:

• “Argentina
• Central America
• Chile
• Mexico
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Africa
• China
• Japan
• India”

Let’s keep in mind that anyone can edit in Wikipedia, so be certain to check before you bank upon going.

My family doctor did prescribe another brand which is a bit fancier in that it has a nicer looking case, lancet ejector, and meter. It was also more expensive and a prescription was needed.

If this is all new to you, you need to know you not only need this kit (which contains the monitor, a lancing device for your lancets, and spaces to store both your test strips and needles), but also the afore mentioned test strips and lancing device. You can buy 100 ultra-thin lancets for under $3.00. I suggest ultra-thin because I’ve found the thinner the lancet, the less the poke to get that one drop of blood needed for testing hurts.

The test strips are another story. These are expensive. They usually cost a little less than $18.00 for 100. And the lancing device? That’s about $6.00. The monitor itself is $9.00. The case comes with your starter kit. I haven’t found one sold separately by Walmart, although Amazon has a few for other brands. The number of times you need to test your blood glucose daily determines the weekly cost of your supplies.

You’ll also be asked for your height and weight. I have to admit I’m partial to digital devices and so have a digital scale from Amazon. Their scales run from $18.00 to $35.00. Of course, non-digital will be less expensive.

As for the height, I guess I cheated. I looked up the most recent height recorded on my last doctor’s appointment and used that.

Conclusion: You’ll need your temperature, blood pressure, height, weight, – if you’re prediabetic or diabetic – your blood glucose, and a phone, iPad sort of device, or computer for your telemedicine appointment.  Now you’re ready.

May you only have good results.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Echo… Echo… Echo…

Remember that golden time I’ve mentioned before? The time when I problem solve and write in my head just as I’m waking up? Well, today the word was echo at that time. Echo? As in echo chamber? Echo Canyon? No, doesn’t feel right. Got it! Echocardiogram.

The English teacher in me is already delighted. Why? I know what most of the word means through my college study of Greek and Latin roots. Card means heart, io is simply a connective, and gram means write. What about echo you ask? I think we all know what that means in common usage, but in conjunction with cardiogram? Yep, time for some help.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, still my favorite, at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ echocardiography tells us an echocardiogram is,

“the use of ultrasound to examine the structure and functioning of the heart for abnormalities and disease”

Let’s put in a little reminder of what an ultrasound is here. This is from MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=5897:

“A test in which high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) are bounced off tissues and the echoes are converted into a picture (sonogram).”

Oh, like the picture of my grandson growing in his mom’s womb. Great, now what does this have to do with Chronic Kidney Disease? I just had an echocardiogram because my oncologist was concerned about the great distance between my diastolic (lower) and systolic (upper) numbers on my blood pressure readings. It was fine, but it did get me to thinking about what CKD and the heart have in common.

Here’s a reminder from Healthline at https://www.healthline.com/health/diastole-vs-systole#:~:text=Your%20systolic%20blood%20pressure%20is,bottom%20number%20on%20your%20reading of what the two numbers mean:

“Your systolic blood pressure is the top number on your reading. It measures the force of blood against your artery walls while your ventricles — the lower two chambers of your heart — squeeze, pushing blood out to the rest of your body.

Your diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number on your reading. It measures the force of blood against your artery walls as your heart relaxes and the ventricles are allowed to refill with blood. Diastole — this period of time when your heart relaxes between beats — is also the time that your coronary artery is able to supply blood to your heart.”

Got it. This next quote is a little medicalese, but basically it’s saying there are specific difficulties if you have both CKD and high blood pressure. It’s from Kidney International at https://www.kidney-international.org/article/S0085-2538(19)30276-5/fulltext :

“In CKD and ESKD, risk factors for HF include long-standing hypertension with often worsened blood pressure (BP) control as CKD worsens, salt and water retention causing excessive preload, and cardiomyopathic factors including left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and fibrosis. In addition, there are CKD- and ESKD-specific factors that affect afterload (increased arterial stiffness and high output shunting through arteriovenous fistulae or grafts) as well as load-independent factors (neurohormonal activation, impaired iron utilization, anemia, demand ischemia, profibrotic factors [e.g., fibroblast growth factor 23 {FGF-23}], inflammation, etc.)…. Arteriovenous fistulae or grafts have been reported to worsen right ventricular hypertrophy, increase pulmonary pressures, associate with significant right ventricular dilatation, and reduce right ventricular function, which are closely linked to survival….”

An echocardiogram can show in real time if all the ventricles of your heart are working correctly as far as pumping blood and and/or leaking when your heart should be at rest.

Well, why get an echocardiogram if you already know you have CKD and high blood pressure? Here’s WebMD at https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/diagnosing-echocardiogram#4’s response.  You can find much more information there, too, as is true of all the sites mentioned.

“An echocardiogram can help your doctor diagnose several kinds of heart problems, including:

• An enlarged heart or thick ventricles (the lower chambers)
• Weakened heart muscles
• Problems with your heart valves
• Heart defects that you’ve had since birth
• Blood clots or tumors”

Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/echocardiogram/about/pac-20393856 offers an easily understandable explanation of the actual process. There are many types of echocardiograms, but this is the most usual.

“Transthoracic echocardiogram

In this standard type of echocardiogram:

• A technician (sonographer) spreads gel on a device (transducer).
• The sonographer presses the transducer firmly against your skin, aiming an ultrasound beam through your chest to your heart.
• The transducer records the sound wave echoes from your heart.
• A computer converts the echoes into moving images on a monitor.”

This is yet another reminder of why we need to have both the heart and kidneys functioning well. This one is from Heart.org at https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/health-threats-from-high-blood-pressure/how-high-blood-pressure-can-lead-to-kidney-damage-or-failure#:~:text=The%20:

• “Damaged kidney arteries do not filter blood well. Kidneys have small, finger-like nephrons that filter your blood. Each nephron receives its blood supply through tiny hair-like capillaries, the smallest of all blood vessels. When the arteries become damaged, the nephrons do not receive the essential oxygen and nutrients — and the kidneys lose their ability to filter blood and regulate the fluid, hormones, acids and salts in the body.
• Damaged kidneys fail to regulate blood pressure. Healthy kidneys produce a hormone called aldosterone to help the body regulate blood pressure. Kidney damage and uncontrolled high blood pressure each contribute to a negative spiral. As more arteries become blocked and stop functioning, the kidneys eventually fail.”

The American Journal of Kidney Disease at https://www.ajkd.org/article/S0272-6386(18)30598-5/fulltext gives us these final words on why an echocardiogram could be necessary for certain CKD patients:

“Abnormal cardiac structure and function are common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and linked with mortality and heart failure.”

Topic change: We tried Flavis’s high protein spaghetti and found it just as light and delightful as their penne. This, I can endorse.

Oh, before I forget. I like to read… a lot. One of the books I read recently was Ray Flynt’s Transplanted Death. I don’t want to tell you too much about it, except that it is a well-written murder mystery with a good story that revolves around transplant recipients, two of them kidney recipients. I am recommending this book.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

I Never Knew

I’ve already mentioned that I read a lot while undergoing chemotherapy for my pancreatic cancer. I don’t have the energy for much else, although I do find my energy slowly increasing day by day. Often, I come across words or terms that are new to me as I read. One such term is ‘hypertensive nephrosclerosis.’ That’s a mouthful, so let’s start slowly.

‘Hypertensive’ is not a problem since we know that hyper means,

“hyper– a prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “over,” usually implying excess or exaggeration (hyperbole); on this model used, especially as opposed to hypo-, in the formation of compound words (hyperthyroid).”

Thank you, Dictionary.com at https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hyper-. A little reminder: a prefix is a group of letters added at the beginning of a word which changes its meaning. Aren’t you glad I was an English teacher for over forty years?

You’ve probably already figured out that ‘tensive’ has to do with some kind of tension. According to Dictionary.com again, but this time at https://www.dictionary.com/browse/tensive?s=ts, it means,

“adjective

stretching or straining”

That is a sort of tension, so you’re right. Add the prefix to the root word and suffix and you get ‘hypertension.’ Maybe a little grammar lesson would help here. A suffix is a group of letters added at the end of a word that change its meaning by expressing tendency, disposition, function, connection, etc. (By the way, some of this was taken from – yep – Dictionary.com again. This time at https://www.dictionary.com/browse/-ive?s=t.) What else? Oh, yes, ‘root.’ That’s the main part of the word; in this word, it’s tens. I know, I know, you didn’t come here for a grammar lesson.

Good thing ‘nephrosclerosis’ is a compound word. We know all about ‘nephro’ since it means kidney. And ‘sclerosis?’ That means hardening. This is a good point to mention this can be fatal. A former colleague recently died of sclerosis.

So ‘nephrolsclerosis’ is a hardening of the kidneys. Let’s check that out just to be sure. According to MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4533:

 Nephrosclerosis: A progressive disease of the kidneys that results from sclerosis (hardening) of the small blood vessels in the kidneys. Nephrosclerosis is most commonly associated with hypertension or diabetes and can lead to kidney failure.

With me so far? Just one more step, let’s add ‘hypertensive’ to ‘nephrosclerosis.’ Emedicine at https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/244342-overview tells us,

“The term hypertensive nephrosclerosis has traditionally been used to describe a clinical syndrome characterized by long-term essential hypertension, hypertensive retinopathy, left ventricular hypertrophy, minimal proteinuria, and progressive renal insufficiency. Most cases are diagnosed based solely on clinical findings….”

Okay, let’s break down the definition of what we just added together to understand this term. You already know what ‘hypertension’ and ‘proteinuria’ are from reading my blogs. If you forgot, use the click throughs in the above definition. That leaves ‘hypertensive retinopathy’ and ‘left ventricular hypertrophy’ since we also know what ‘progressive renal insufficiency’ is.

‘Hypertensive retinopathy’ is summarized by DoveMed, a new site for me whose stated mission is

“We provide reliable unbiased medical information to healthcare consumers and providers by leveraging our unique ecosystem of world class products and services.”

at https://www.dovemed.com/article-synonyms/stage-4-hypertensive-retinopathy/ in this manner:

• “Hypertensive Retinopathy (HR) refers to abnormal changes of the retina that is located in the back of the eye, due to chronic hypertension (high blood pressure)
• The retinal arteries are autoregulated, meaning they can control their own shape based on changes in systemic blood pressure. However, at extremely high blood pressures, such as a blood pressure of 140/110 mmHg or over, they are unable to autoregulate. This can result in retinal complications
• Depending on the severity of the signs and symptoms, Hypertensive Retinopathy can be classified to 4 stages – stage 1, 2, 3, and 4. Stage 1 Hypertensive Retinopathy has mild signs and symptoms, whereas Stage 4 Hypertensive Retinopathy has severe signs and symptoms
• These changes typically occur in individuals who have had very high blood pressure for several years. The signs and symptoms of Hypertensive Retinopathy may include leakage of fats from the blood vessels, retinal edema (fluid in the retina), and swelling of the optic nerves
• Some of the complications can include lack of oxygen delivered to the retina, as well as swelling of the macula and optic nerve that can result in the vision being affected
• The treatment typically consists of controlling systemic hypertension with medications. Prognosis is generally good for individuals with stage 1 or 2 Hypertensive Retinopathy”

That leaves ‘left ventricular hypertrophy.’ Have no fear! The Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/left-ventricular-hypertrophy/symptoms-causes/syc-20374314 is here to help us out:

“Left ventricular hypertrophy is enlargement and thickening (hypertrophy) of the walls of your heart’s main pumping chamber (left ventricle).

Left ventricular hypertrophy can develop in response to some factor — such as high blood pressure or a heart condition — that causes the left ventricle to work harder. As the workload increases, the muscle tissue in the chamber wall thickens, and sometimes the size of the chamber itself also increases. The enlarged heart muscle loses elasticity and eventually may fail to pump with as much force as needed.

Left ventricular hypertrophy is more common in people who have uncontrolled high blood pressure. But no matter what your blood pressure is, developing left ventricular hypertrophy puts you at higher risk of a heart attack and stroke.

Treating high blood pressure can help ease your symptoms and may reverse left ventricular hypertrophy.”

Adding all this information together, it’s clear that hypertensive blood pressure is going to do you no good in any way. So what do we do to avoid high blood pressure? That’s right! And the CDC backs you up. Take a look at https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/prevent.htm.

“Prevent High Blood Pressure

….Eat a Healthy Diet

Choose healthy meal and snack options to help you avoid high blood pressure and its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Talk with your health care team about eating a variety of foods rich in potassium, fiber, and protein and lower in salt (sodium) and saturated fat. For many people, making these healthy changes can help keep blood pressure low and protect against heart disease and stroke.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) eating plan is a healthy diet plan with a proven record of helping people lower their blood pressure….

Visit the CDC’s Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity website to learn more about healthy eating and nutrition.

Keep Yourself at a Healthy Weight

Having overweight or obesity increases your risk for high blood pressure. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate your body mass index (BMI). If you know your weight and height, you can calculate your BMI at CDC’s Assessing Your Weight website. Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to assess body fat.

Talk with your health care team about ways to reach a healthy weight, including choosing healthy foods and getting regular physical activity.

Be Physically Active

Physical activity can help keep you at a healthy weight and lower your blood pressure. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking or bicycling, every week. That’s about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Children and adolescents should get 1 hour of physical activity every day.

Visit the website for CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity to learn about ways you can be physically active.

Do Not Smoke

Smoking raises your blood pressure and puts you at higher risk for heart attack and stroke. If you do not smoke, do not start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Your doctor can suggest ways to help you quit.

For more information about tobacco use and quitting, see CDC’s Smoking and Tobacco Use Web site.

Limit How Much Alcohol You Drink

Do not drink too much alcohol, which can raise your blood pressure. Men should have no more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day, and women should have no more than 1 alcoholic drink per day. Visit the CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health website for more information.

Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is important to your overall health, and enough sleep is part of keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy. Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke…. Visit CDC’s Sleep and Sleep Disorders website for resources on how to get better sleep.”

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

National Kidney Month is Almost Over

Welcome to the next to last day of National Kidney Month, 2020. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should stop taking care of your kidneys or spreading Chronic Kidney Disease awareness once National Kidney Month is over, but I don’t have to tell you that, do I? What I’d like to tell you about instead is the ins and outs of National Kidney Month.

In my latest book (Cancer has definitely slowed the arrival of SlowItDownCKD 2019, but soon, my friends, soon.) SlowItDownCKD 2018, I wrote:

“As usual, let’s start at the beginning. What is National Kidney Month? Personalized Cause at https://www.personalizedcause.com/health-awareness-cause-calendar/national-kidney-month has a succinct explanation for us. By the way, while I’m not endorsing them since the site is new to me, I should let you know they sell the green ribbons for National Kidney Month that you’ll probably be seeing hither and yon all month. [Added today: Come to think of it, some readers have asked me where to get CKD ribbons. This is what this site sells among other things.]

‘National Kidney Month, observed in March and sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation, is a time to increase awareness of kidney disease, promote the need for a cure, and spur advocacy on behalf of those suffeing [sic] with the emotional, financial and physical burden of kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation is the leading organization in the U.S. dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease for hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, millions of patients and their families, and tens of millions of Americans at risk.’

That, of course, prompted me to go directly to the National Kidney Foundation’s information about National Kidney Month at https://www.kidney.org/news/monthly/Focus_KidneyMonth.

‘Focus on the Kidneys During National Kidney Month in March

March is National Kidney Month and the NKF is urging all Americans to give their kidneys a second thought and a well-deserved checkup. Kidneys filter 200 liters of blood a day, help regulate blood pressure and direct red blood cell production. But they are also prone to disease; 1 in 3 Americans is at risk for kidney disease due to diabetes, high blood pressure [Added today: This year’s theme for National Kidney Month is high blood pressure and your kidneys.] or a family history of kidney failure. There are more than 30 million Americans [Added today: 31 million this year] who already have kidney disease, and most don’t know it because there are often no symptoms until the disease has progressed….’

I wanted to share this quote from the American Kidney Fund with you, both as a CKD awareness advocate and a woman:

‘Kidney disease is a silent killer that disproportionately affects women who are often the primary caregivers for loved ones with the disease, are more likely to become living donors but less likely to receive a transplant, and are at higher risk for CKD,’ said LaVarne A. Burton, president and chief executive officer of AKF. ‘Because women with kidney disease may also face other health issues, including infertility, pregnancy complications, bone disease and depression, AKF is using Kidney Month to let women know we are here to support them and to provide resources that will answer their questions and concerns.’

The Renal Support Network at https://www.rsnhope.org/ is working even more emphatically to spread kidney disease awareness this month, too:

‘March is National Kidney Month. This is a special time set aside to raise awareness about kidney health and activities. RSN invites members of the kidney community, our friends and our families to join in the conversation.’

This on top of their usual. For those that are not familiar with this group, the following statement is from their website.

‘Since 1993 RSN has created and continues to produce a vast collection of information about kidney disease. Feel free to share our National Kidney Month page, a favorite story, KidneyTalk™ show or awareness image on social media using the hashtag #KidneyMonth and be sure to tag us @RSNhope.’

DaVita Kidney Care at https://www.davita.com/education/resources offers many resources (as the website’s URL assures us) to help understand both CKD and dialysis. Some of their offerings are:

• ‘Organizations and Programs
• Education
• Advice & Inspiration
• Recipes & Nutrition
• Specific Kidney Diseases
• Resources 
• Health Related Portals’

If you click through on the link offered above, each item will open on a new page.”

This year (2019), I noticed that The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/community-health-outreach/national-kidney-month offers us even more information during National Kidney Month:

“March is National Kidney Month, a time when communities across the country raise awareness about kidney disease. In partnership with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), this year’s focus is the link between high blood pressure and kidney disease.

If you have high blood pressure, you’re at risk for chronic kidney disease, a serious condition that can lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, and death.

The good news is that you can help protect your kidneys by managing high blood pressure with these 6 healthy lifestyle habits.

1. Take medications as prescribed.  Your doctor may prescribe blood pressure-lowering medications that are effective in slowing the development of kidney disease.
2. Aim for a healthy weight. If you are overweight or obese, losing even a small amount of weight can improve blood pressure readings.
3. Select healthier food and beverage options.  Focus on fruits and vegetables, lean meat, whole grains, and other heart-healthy foods.
4. Try to quit smoking. If you smoke, take steps to quit.
5. Get enough sleep. Aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.
6. Manage stress and make physical activity part of your routine. Consider healthy stress-reducing activities and get at least 30 minutes or more of physical activity each day.

Learn more about high blood pressure and kidney disease

• High Blood Pressure & Kidney Disease
• Preventing Chronic Kidney Disease
• Causes of Chronic Kidney Disease
• High Blood Pressure
• High Blood Pressure Health Education Initiative
• Take Control of Your Blood Pressure”

As for me, I’ll blog my brains out until more and more people are aware of kidney disease. Same goes for the Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn accounts. It’s all about kidney disease awareness.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Just in Time

I woke up this morning thinking about Audre Lorde. She was the New York State Poet at one time and considered herself a “lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,”but more importantly to me, my writing mentor and friend… and I miss her terribly. Thinking about Audre led me to thinking about my younger daughter (Abby) who won the Black History Month Essay Contest in her elementary school several years in a row by writing about Audre’s and my friendship.

That stopped me for a moment. Audre, Abby, Black History Month. This is Black History Month and it’s half over. Time to write about Black History in Nephrology today.

As Andrea Wurtzburger wrote in People Magazine (I knew there was a reason I grabbed this first each time I waited in one medical office or another.) in the February 13, 2020 issue which was also posted at https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/black-history-month-explained-started-175250248.html,

“Black History Month is an entire month devoted to putting a spotlight on African Americans who have made contributions to our country. Originally, it was seen as a way of teaching students and young people about the contributions of Black and African Americans in school, as they had (and still have) been often forgotten or left out of the narrative of the growth of America. Now, it is seen as a celebration of those who’ve impacted not just the country, but the world with their activism and achievements.”

Now that we know what Black History Month is, let’s see how we can apply it to the field of nephrology. This is what I wrote in SlowItDownCKD 2017 (February 7^th) about Dr. Kountz:

“Samuel L. Kountz, M.D was another innovative contributor to Nephrology from the Black Community. As Blackpast.org tells us:

“In 1961 Kountz and Roy Cohn, another leading surgeon, performed the first successful kidney transplant between two people who were close relatives but not twins.  Over the next decade Kountz researched the process of kidney transplants on dogs.  He discovered that monitoring blood flow into the new kidney and administering methylprednisolone to the patient after surgery allowed the body to accept the new organ.

In 1966 Kountz joined the faculty at Stanford University Hospital and Medical School and in 1967 he became the chief of the kidney transplant service at University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).  There he worked with Folker Belzer to create the Belzer kidney perfusion machine.  This innovation kept kidneys alive for 50 hours after being removed from the donor.  Through Kountz’s involvement at UCSF, the institution’s kidney transplant research center became one the best in the country.  Kountz also created the Center for Human Values at UCSF, to discuss ethical issues concerning transplants.”

Kidney News Online at https://www.kidneynews.org/careers/resources/opinion-re-establishing-trust-and-improving-outcomes-in-nephrology introduced me to someone who should be noted in Black History Month in the future since the general public needs to be aware of Chronic Kidney Disease in order to be tested and, ultimately, treated. Dr. Bignall echoes my own thoughts.

“O. N. Ray Bignall II, MD is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Nephrology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is also a member of the American Society of Nephrology’s Policy and Advocacy Committee.

‘To re-establish trust and improve outcomes, we must carry health equity from “the bedside to the curbside.” From research and discovery, to policy and advocacy, nephrologists must engage directly with community members, stakeholders, and lawmakers. Minority communities need to see nephrologists in their schools, houses of worship, block parties, and community centers. We can increase our involvement in community-based participatory research (CBPR) that engages community members in the design, study, and implementation of evidence-based discovery. Nephrologists should also be taking our message to city halls, state houses, and our nation’s Capital to promote kidney disease research and advocacy for all our patients – especially those with disparate outcomes.’ ”

I felt compelled to include Dr. Charles DeWitt Watts who, while not a nephrologist, was eminent in breaking racial barriers so we could have Black nephrologists available to us. The following is from Duke University Medical Center and Library at https://guides.mclibrary.duke.edu/BlackHistoryMonth.

“Dr. Watts spent more than 50 years advocating for civil and human rights and for the quality of medical care for all residents of Durham, especially the poor and underserved. He broke racial barriers when he pushed for certification of black medical students.

First African American to be certified by a surgical specialty board in North Carolina.

Played key role in founding Lincoln Community Health Center, a free standing clinic, which served people regardless of their ability to pay.

Joined the staff of Lincoln Hospital as Chief of Surgery in 1950. Lincoln was one of the few American hospitals at the time that granted surgical privileges to African-American physicians.

Completed his surgical training at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, DC under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Drew.

Worked to prepare Lincoln’s interns and residents for board certification and convinced Duke University Medical School to oversee Lincoln’s training program so that students could get board certified.

Fought along with other community leaders for the creation of one integrated public health care facility, Durham Regional Hospital, built in Durham in 1967. This led to the closing of both Watts and Lincoln hospitals.

Served as Adjunct Clinical Professor of Surgery at Duke and Director of Student Health at North Carolina Central University.

Served for 28 years as Vice President and Medical Director for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Co., the largest African-American managed insurer in the country.

Member of the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, a fellow in the American College of Surgeons, and an active participant in the National Medical Association.”

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Why Wait?

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Joe Russell. He works on health care policy issues for my Arizona Senator Sinema in Washington D.C., along with his colleague Sylvia Lee, policy advisor. He was letting me know both Sylvia and he would be in Arizona the following week, and holding a roundtable discussion with patients suffering from kidney disease, along with their providers, caregivers, and family members. They wanted to discuss a series of legislative proposals their office would be working on in the coming months, as well as gain a better understanding of the unique challenges patients with kidney disease face in Arizona. The National Kidney Foundation of Arizona recommended they reach out to me, given my work and experience on this topic.

Are you kidding, I thought. I’ve been trying to get someone in Arizona interested in the growth of CKD locally… and, of course, everywhere else, for over 12 years. Now, mind you, by 3:30 I’m exhausted (Damn chemo!), but I vowed to go even though it was later in the day (3 p.m.). And I did.

When I arrived, who did I see sitting at Senator Sinema’s table, but Raymond and Analyn Scott. They are the compilers of The 1 in 9 Tribe to which I had contributed a chapter. There were people from the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona, a transplant patient, my very own nephrologist (who is also Raymond’s) and Senator Sinema’s delegation.

Oh boy, I remember thinking, this is going to be good. And it was. Each person spoke to their own stage of CKD with Dr. DeSai (Raymond’s and my nephrologist) and the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona people speaking about all stages of CKD. I kept steering the discussion back to early stage treatment and awareness for all. It seemed all were in agreement with my ideas or, at least, they were interested.

But I want to let you know why I feel early intervention and general awareness are so important. This is a note I received from a reader.

”Please help. I just got blood results back from my yearly physical and saw that my eGFR was 55 and my creatinine was 1.09. After speaking to my GP she told me my results were nothing to ‘be concerned about’. Since the 2 above mentioned results were highlighted in red I figured perhaps I should ‘concern’ myself about it and research what it could possibly mean. I was shocked to read that it indicated kidney disease. When I told my doctor of my findings, she again pushed it off as nothing to worry about. Am I over reacting? Thanks for any help you can give me.”

Now we don’t know this reader’s age. That’s important because you lose one point off your Glomerular Filtration Rate every year once you hit the age of 40. For example, I turned 73 yesterday (Yes, it was a fun birthday with my family and friends despite the effects of chemo.). Subtract 40 from that and I have lost 33 points off my GFR simply by being alive and growing older. Considering the highest GFR is 120, although we usually use 100 for ease of figuring, my perfect GFR would be 87. But it’s not. It’s 55, so we know I have CKD, stage 3A just like this reader.

Nuts! I’m going on and on as if everyone reading this knew both what GFR is and the stages of CKD. Well, we’ll just correct that right now. According to MedlinePlus, part of the U.S. National Library of Medicine which, in turn, is part of the National Institutes of Health, at https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007305.htm.

“Glomerular filtration rate

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a test used to check how well the kidneys are working. Specifically, it estimates how much blood passes through the glomeruli each minute. Glomeruli are the tiny filters in the kidneys that filter waste from the blood.

How the Test is Performed

A blood sample is needed.

The blood sample is sent to a lab. There, the creatinine level in the blood sample is tested. Creatinine is a chemical waste product of creatine. Creatine is a chemical the body makes to supply energy, mainly to muscles.

The lab specialist combines your creatinine level with several other factors to estimate your GFR. Different formulas are used for adults and children. The formula includes some or all of the following:

• Age
• Blood creatinine measurement
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Height
• Weight”

Nor do we know the reader’s ethnicity. The National Kidney Foundation at https://www.kidney.org/sites/default/files/docs/12-10-4004_abe_faqs_aboutgfrrev1b_singleb.pdf explains why this is important:

“This is due to higher average muscle mass and creatinine generation rate in African Americans.”

So, why then, is it important to know if you’re only in stage 2 of CKD? Let me put it this way:

When I was first diagnosed with CKD, I was at a GFR of 39. That’s pretty low. Had I been tested earlier, I would have had more time to preserve more of my kidney function. While I’m now at about 55 GFR (just like my reader), it took years and years of hard work as far as diet, exercise, rest, sleep, avoiding anxiety, not drinking or smoking and making sure I paid special attention to my labs.

Imagine if I had known earlier that I had CKD. I could have started protecting my kidneys earlier, which may have meant I could avoid dialysis for longer… or maybe at all. It may have meant I wouldn’t reach the place where I needed a transplant, if I ever needed one.

If you are routinely checked via a blood test and urine test each time you see your family doctor – just like your heart and lungs are checked – you may be able to avoid being told you were in need of dialysis seemingly out of the blue. But you wouldn’t know to ask for these tests unless everyone is made aware of CKD and just how prevalent it is. Think about it.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Belly Fluid Retention While Taking a Diuretic?

Finally, we get to the question one reader has been waiting to be answered for several months while I dealt with complications from pancreatic cancer surgery. Thank you for your patience. The question has to do with reducing belly fluid retention that seems to be the result of taking the diuretic ethacrynic acid for over two years.

What is ethacrynic acid used for? I don’t know. Let’s find out together. CardioSmart of the American College of Cardiology at https://www.cardiosmart.org/Healthwise/d006/49/d00649 tells us that ethacrynic acid is,

“… a loop diuretic (water pill) that prevents your body from absorbing too much salt, allowing the salt to instead be passed in your urine.”

I get what a diuretic is, but what’s a loop diuretic? Let’s go to Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loop_diuretic for this one, but keep in mind that anyone – medical personnel or not – can edit an entry on this site.

“Loop diuretics are diuretics that act at the ascending limb of the loop of Henle in the kidney. They are primarily used in medicine to treat hypertension and edema often due to congestive heart failure or chronic kidney disease. While thiazide diuretics are more effective in patients with normal kidney function, loop diuretics are more effective in patients with impaired kidney function.”

I see. So, as kidney disease patients we are offered loop diuretics instead of thiazide diuretic. The loop diuretic is to prevent too much salt absorption. And we need to limit our salt absorption as CKD patients because???

Thank you to DaVita Kidney Care at https://www.davita.com/diet-nutrition/articles/basics/sodium-and-chronic-kidney-disease for the following:

“… too much sodium can be harmful for people with kidney disease because your kidneys cannot eliminate excess sodium and fluid from your body. As sodium and fluid buildup in your tissues and bloodstream, your blood pressure increases and you feel uncomfortable.

High blood pressure can cause more damage to unhealthy kidneys. This damage further reduces kidney function, resulting in even more fluid and waste build up in the body.

Other sodium-related complications are:

• Edema: swelling in your legs, hands and face
• Heart failure: excess fluid in the bloodstream can overwork your heart making it enlarged and weak
• Shortness of breath: fluid can build up in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe”

Now it makes sense that you don’t want to absorb too much salt if you’re a Chronic Kidney Disease patient.

Wait a minute. If a diuretic is a water pill, why is this reader retaining most of her fluid in her belly. Shouldn’t it be passing out of her body in her urine? I found this explanation on Livestrong at https://www.livestrong.com/article/498477-retaining-fluid-while-taking-diuretics/ :

“In some cases, fluid retention will not respond well to diuretic therapy. Diuretics are not an effective treatment for a type of fluid retention known as idiopathic cyclic edema. In fact, taking diuretics for this condition can make the retention worse. It is not known what causes this condition, but it is associated with hypothyroidism, obesity and diabetes mellitus. This condition often occurs before menstruation and is more common in young women.”

I did see a picture of this reader and didn’t see any signs of obesity, but do not know if she is dealing with diabetes mellitus or hypothyroidism. I’m so sorry, dear reader, but it looks like I’ve hit the same dead end you have in asking your doctors for help.

Change of subject. It’s a new year and the kidney world is reacting to that. For instance, KidneyX, stage 2 is now in effect.

Redesign Dialysis Phase II

Building off the success of KidneyX’s inaugural prize competition, Redesign Dialysis Phase I, Phase II challenges participants to build and test prototype solutions, or components of solutions, that can replicate normal kidney functions or improve dialysis access. Up to 3 winners will each be awarded $500,000.

Submissions are due by 5:00 ET on January 31, 2020.

Who Can Participate?

You can submit a solution even if you did not submit anything in Phase I. Full eligibility rules can be found on page 6 of the prize announcement.

What is KidneyX Looking for in Redesign Dialysis, Phase II?

We are seeking prototype solutions that address any of these categories:

• Blood Filtration (filtering blood to remove waste and excess fluid)
• Electrolyte Homeostasis (maintaining appropriate levels of key minerals in the blood)
• Volume Regulation (regulating the amount of and/or removing excess fluid).
• Toxin Removal and Secretion (removing, limiting or preventing toxins in the bloodstream).
• Filtrate Drainage and Connectivity (removing excess filtrate after processing; connectivity issues for filtration, processing, and exterior drainage)
• Dialysis Access (vascular, peritoneal, blood circuit, or alternative (e.g., GI tract) access)

Specific technical design targets for each category can be found on page 4 of the prize announcement. These design targets, as well as the categories themselves, were developed based on the Kidney Health Initiative’s Technology Roadmap for Innovative Approaches to Renal Replacement Therapy, which is an excellent resource to learn more about technical and scientific needs in this space.

Tests of the prototype’s function or performance should demonstrate rigor, reproducibility, and statistical analysis.

For specific judging criteria, please review the prize announcement.

You can learn more at https://www.kidneyx.org/prizecompetitions/RedesignDialysisPhaseII.

The American Association of Kidney Patients is also looking for participants.

AAKP is pleased to announce an opportunity for individuals with chronic kidney disease, and their caregivers, to participate in a research survey that will help us better understand the impact chronic kidney disease has had on their lives.

To find out whether you qualify, please click on the box below that corresponds with the survey that is most appropriate for you, and complete the brief screening questionnaire. If eligible, you will be directed to the full survey which is expected to take about 15-to-20 minutes to complete. Kindly note, the survey must be completed in one sitting so it is important to start the survey at a time when you feel confident you can allocate enough time to complete the survey in its entirety.

As a show of appreciation for your time and input, participants who complete

the full survey will receive a check for $35!

You can read more about this at https://survey-d.dynata.com/survey/selfserve/53b/1912660?CT=1#?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

AKI & CKD

Aha! Dana contacted me and here’s the blog I promised him. (Still looking for the request from the woman who waited so patiently for me to recover from my surgery. Please contact me again.) Dana asked about AKI, Acute Kidney Injury, and how aggressively his nephrologist should be pursuing treatment of this. He and his nephrologist feel that his AKI may have been caused by strep.

I know I write about CKD, Chronic Kidney Disease, so what is AKI? The glossary in my very first CKD book, What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, tells us ‘acute’ means:

“Extremely painful, severe or serious, quick onset, of short duration; the opposite of chronic.” This is what I wrote about AKI and CKD in SlowItDownCKD 2017,

“I’d always thought that AKI and CKD were separate issues and I’ll bet you did, too. But Dr. L.S. Chawla and his co-writers based the following conclusion on the labor of epidemiologists and others. (Note: Dr. Chawla et al wrote a review article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2014.)

‘Chronic Kidney Disease is a risk factor for acute kidney injury, acute kidney injury is a risk factor for the development of Chronic Kidney Disease, and both acute kidney injury and Chronic Kidney Disease are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Not surprisingly, the risk factors for AKI {Once again, that’s acute kidney injury.} are the same as those for CKD… except for one peculiar circumstance. Having CKD itself can raise the risk of AKI 10 times.’

Whoa! If you’re Black, of an advanced age {Hey!}, or have diabetes, you already know you’re at risk for CKD, or are the one out of nine (Update: Now one out of seven.) in our country that has it. Once you’ve developed CKD, you’ve just raised the risk for AKI 10 times. I’m getting a little nervous here….

It makes sense, as researchers and doctors are beginning to see, that these are all connected. I’m not a doctor or a researcher, but I can understand that if you’ve had some kind of insult to your kidney, it would be more apt to develop CKD.

And the CVD risk? Let’s think of it this way. You’ve had AKI. That period of weakness in the kidneys opens them up to CKD. We already know there’s a connection between CKD and CVD (Cardiovascular Disease). Throw that AKI into the mix, and you have more of a chance to develop CVD whether or not you’ve had a problem in this area before. Let’s not go off the deep end here. If you’ve had AKI, you just need to be monitored to see if CKD develops and avoid nephrotoxic {Kidney poisoning} medications such as NSAIDS… contrast dyes, and radioactive substances. This is just so circular!

As with CKD, your hypertension and diabetes {if you have them.} need to be monitored, too. Then there’s the renal diet, especially low sodium foods. The kicker here is that no one knows if this is helpful in avoiding CKD after an AKI… it’s a ‘just in case’ kind of thing to help ward off any CKD and possible CVD from the CKD.”

Dana’s nephrologist put him on a regiment of prednisone for two months. Why? Well, prednisone is an anti-inflammatory drug. WebMD at https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-acute-kidney-failure#1 offers the following as possible causes of AKI. Notice the very last one and you’ll see how prednisone may be helpful.

1. “Something is stopping blood flow to your kidneys. It could be because of:

• An infection
• Liver failure
• Medications (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, or COX-2 inhibitors, like Celebrex)
• Blood pressure medications
• Heart failure
• Severe burns or dehydration
• Blood or fluid loss

1. You have a condition that’s blocking urine from leaving your kidneys. This could mean:

• Bladder, cervical, colon or prostate cancer
• Blood clots in your urinary tract
• An enlarged prostate
• Kidney stones
• Nerve damage in your bladder

1. Something has directly damaged your kidneys, like:

• Blood clots
• Cholesterol deposits
• Medications that can directly damage kidneys, including NSAIDs like ibuprofen and naproxen, chemotherapy, and antibiotics
• Glomerulonephritis (inflamed kidney filters; can be caused by an infection, autoimmune disease (like lupus), multiple myeloma, scleroderma, chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, or other toxins)”

Now we know AKI and Acute Kidney Failure are not the same thing, but it is possible that this nephrologist is using prednisone in an attempt to avoid Acute Kidney Failure.

One thing Dana asked that made me stop cold is “How do you cope with the inevitable aspects?” They are not inevitable, Dana. I am a lay person who has managed to keep my CKD at stage 3 for 11 years. I am also not a magician. What I am is someone who follows the guidelines for keeping my kidneys as healthy as possible.

You’ve already seen a nutritionist – hopefully a renal nutritionist, since a healthy diet is not necessarily a renal healthy diet – so you’re aware of the nutrition aspect of protecting your kidneys. But there’s more. Do you smoke or drink? If so, stop. Do you exercise? If not, start… but with your nephrologist’s supervision. Are you getting adequate sleep and rest? Here’s the hardest guideline: try to avoid stress. Of course, if you have a stressful life, avoiding stress can just be another stress.

As to how aggressively you should expect your nephrologist to treat your AKI (or the CKD resulting from it) really depends upon you and your nephrologist. For example, some think stage 3 is barely CKD and urge you to just keep watch. Others, like my nephrologist, take CKD seriously and have their nutritionists train you re the renal diet and speak with you themselves about the guidelines. As for AKI, again it depends on you, your nephrologist, and the severity of the AKI. Since you have waste product buildup and inflammation, you may need dialysis or a hospital stay… or watchful waiting while taking a medication such as prednisone.’

There seems to be quite a lot of leeway as to the treatment you and your nephrologist decide upon.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Another Kind of Kidney Disease

While I’m still recuperating, I’ve had plenty of time to read Twitter articles, among other things. One topic I’ve been reading about is lupus nephritis. I think we’ve all heard of lupus, but just in case, here’s a definition from MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=8064.

“A chronic inflammatory disease that is caused by autoimmunity. Patients with lupus have in their blood unusual antibodies that are targeted against their own body tissues. Lupus can cause disease of the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, joints, and nervous system.”

Did you catch the mention of kidneys in the above definition? That’s where the nephritis part of the condition comes in. By now, we’re all probably tired of being reminded that ‘neph’ means relating to the kidneys (although in non-medical terms, it means relating to the clouds) and ‘itis’ means inflammation. Nuts! I just reminded you again. Let’s ignore that. So, lupus nephritis actually means

“… a kidney disorder [which] is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus.”

Thank you to MedlinePlus at https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000481.htm for the definition. Oh, “systemic lupus erythematosus” refers back to autoimmune disease. Still, the word “erythematosus” puzzled me. I finally figured it out after realizing I probably wasn’t going to get a definition since almost all the entries were for lupus erythematosus. Remember, I studied Greek & Latin roots way, way back in college. It means red and is from the Greek. I get it. Sometimes, lupus patients have a red rash in butterfly form across their face.

So, how do you develop this particular kidney disease? What better place to find out than Lupus.org at https://www.lupus.org/resources/how-lupus-affects-the-renal-kidney-system#.

“Inflammation of the nephrons, the structures within the kidneys that filter the blood, is called glomerulonephritis, or nephritis. Lupus nephritis is the term used when lupus causes inflammation in your kidneys, making them unable to properly remove waste from your blood or control the amount of fluids in your body.”

Hmmm, no lupus equals no lupus nephritis. However, if you do have lupus, you may develop lupus nephritis.

Let’s say hypothetically that you or a loved one (or even your neighbor down the block) has lupus and is concerned about developing lupus nephritis. How would they know if they were developing it? I had to look no further than the National Kidney Foundation at https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/lupus.

“Lupus nephritis can cause many signs and symptoms and may be different for everyone. Signs of lupus nephritis include:

• Blood in the urine (hematuria): Glomerular disease can cause your glomeruli to leak blood into your urine. Your urine may look pink or light brown from blood.
• Protein in the urine (proteinuria): Glomerular disease can cause your glomeruli to leak protein into your urine. Your urine may be foamy because of the protein.
• Edema: Having extra fluid that your kidneys cannot remove that causes swelling in body parts like your legs, ankles, or around your eyes.
• Weight gain: due to the fluid your body is not able to get rid of.
• High blood pressure

I know these may also be the symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease, but if you have lupus, then they may be symptoms of lupus nephritis. To make things even more complicated, there are five different kinds of lupus nephritis depending upon which part of the kidney is affected.

I was wondering about tests to diagnose lupus nephritis, like we have blood and urine tests to diagnose CKD. Healthline (Now do you see why I was so thrilled to receive their Best Kidney Blogs Award two years in a row?) at https://www.healthline.com/health/lupus-nephritis#diagnosis cleared that up.

Blood tests

Your doctor will look for elevated levels of waste products, such as creatinine and urea. Normally, the kidneys filter out these products.

24-hour urine collection

This test measures the kidney’s ability selectively to filter wastes. It determines how much protein appears in urine over 24 hours.

Urine tests

Urine tests measure kidney function. They identify levels of:

• protein
• red blood cells
• white blood cells

Iothalamate clearance testing

This test uses a contrast dye to see if your kidneys are filtering properly.

Radioactive iothalamate is injected into your blood. Your doctor will then test how quickly it’s excreted in your urine. They may also directly test how quickly it leaves your blood. This is considered to be the most accurate test of kidney filtration speed.

Kidney biopsy

Biopsies are the most accurate and also most invasive way to diagnose kidney disease. Your doctor will insert a long needle through your abdomen and into your kidney. They’ll take a sample of kidney tissue to be analyzed for signs of damage.

Ultrasound

Ultrasounds use sound waves to create a detailed image of your kidney. Your doctor will look for anything abnormal in the size and shape of your kidney.

Yes, I know these are the same tests that are used to diagnose CKD, but if you have lupus, they also can diagnose lupus nephritis.

Okay, now the biggie: How do you treat it if you do have it? The MayoClinic at  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lupus-nephritis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20446438 had some sobering news for us:

“There’s no cure for lupus nephritis. Treatment aims to:

• Reduce symptoms or make symptoms disappear (remission)
• Keep the disease from getting worse
• Maintain remission
• Avoid the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant

Conservative treatments

In general, doctors may recommend these treatments for people with kidney disease:

• Diet changes. Limiting the amount of protein and salt in your diet can improve kidney function.
• Blood pressure medications. Drugs called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) can help control blood pressure. These drugs also prevent protein from leaking from the kidneys into the urine. Drugs called diuretics can help you get rid of excess fluid.

However, conservative treatment alone isn’t effective for lupus nephritis.

Immune suppressants

For severe lupus nephritis, you might take drugs that slow or stop the immune system from attacking healthy cells, such as:

• Steroids, such as prednisone
• Cyclosporine
• Tacrolimus
• Cyclophosphamide
• Azathioprine (Imuran)
• Mycophenolate (CellCept)
• Rituximab (Rituxan)

When immunosuppressive therapies don’t lead to remission, clinical trials may be available for new therapies.

Treatment options for kidney failure

For people who progress to kidney failure, treatment options include:

• Dialysis. Dialysis helps remove fluid and waste from the body, maintain the right balance of minerals in the blood, and manage blood pressure by filtering your blood through a machine.
• Kidney transplant. You may need a new kidney from a donor if your kidneys can no longer function.”

Help! Running out of room (but we’re done anyway),

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Is it Blood Sugar or the Pancreas?

We all know diabetes raises your risk of developing Chronic Kidney Disease. But why? What’s the mechanism behind the fact? As far as I’m concerned, it’s time to find out.

Let’s start with diabetes. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which in turn is part of The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes offers this explanation.

“Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose is your main source of energy and comes from the food you eat. Insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps glucose from food get into your cells to be used for energy. Sometimes your body doesn’t make enough—or any—insulin or doesn’t use insulin well. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause health problems. Although diabetes has no cure, you can take steps to manage your diabetes and stay healthy.

Sometimes people call diabetes ‘a touch of sugar’ or ‘borderline diabetes.’”

Having just had a tumor removed from my pancreas, I’m well aware that it produces insulin as well as digestive enzymes. Without a pancreas to produce insulin, you would need insulin injections several times a day.

I got what diabetes is, but how it causes CKD was still not clear.

Well, not until I read the following from The American Diabetes Association at https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes/complications/kidney-disease-nephropathy.

“When our bodies digest the protein we eat, the process creates waste products. In the kidneys, millions of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) with even tinier holes in them act as filters. As blood flows through the blood vessels, small molecules such as waste products squeeze through the holes. These waste products become part of the urine. Useful substances, such as protein and red blood cells, are too big to pass through the holes in the filter and stay in the blood.

Diabetes can damage this system. High levels of blood sugar make the kidneys filter too much blood. All this extra work is hard on the filters. After many years, they start to leak and useful protein is lost in the urine. Having small amounts of protein in the urine is called microalbuminuria.

When kidney disease is diagnosed early, during microalbuminuria, several treatments may keep kidney disease from getting worse. Having larger amounts of protein in the urine is called macroalbuminuria. When kidney disease is caught later during macroalbuminuria, end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, usually follows.

In time, the stress of overwork causes the kidneys to lose their filtering ability. Waste products then start to build up in the blood. Finally, the kidneys fail. This failure, ESRD, is very serious. A person with ESRD needs to have a kidney transplant or to have the blood filtered by machine (dialysis).”

Hmmm, now that we know what diabetes is and how it can cause CKD, maybe we need to look at ways to attempt to avoid diabetes.

• “Losing weight and keeping it off. Weight control is an important part of diabetes prevention. You may be able to prevent or delay diabetes by losing 5 to 10 percent of your current weight. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, your goal would be to lose between 10 to 20 pounds. And once you lose the weight, it is important that you don’t gain it back.
• Following a healthy eating plan. It is important to reduce the amount of calories you eat and drink each day, so you can lose weight and keep it off. To do that, your diet should include smaller portions and less fat and sugar. You should also eat a variety of foods from each food group, including plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. It’s also a good idea to limit red meat, and avoid processed meats.
• Get regular exercise. Exercise has many health benefits, including helping you to lose weight and lower your blood sugar levels. These both lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. Try to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity 5 days a week. If you have not been active, talk with your health care professional to figure out which types of exercise are best for you. You can start slowly and work up to your goal.
• Don’t smoke. Smoking can contribute to insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. If you already smoke, try to quit.
• Talk to your health care provider to see whether there is anything else you can do to delay or to prevent type 2 diabetes. If you are at high risk, your provider may suggest that you take one of a few types of diabetes medicines.”

This is a list from NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases posted on MedLinePlus at https://medlineplus.gov/howtopreventdiabetes.html. Notice it’s mentioned that this is for type 2 diabetes.

There are 11 different kinds of diabetes. Types 1 and 2 are the most common. WebMD at https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/types-of-diabetes-mellitus#1 explains what type 1 and 2 are.

“Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. It’s caused by the body attacking its own pancreas with antibodies. In people with type 1 diabetes, the damaged pancreas doesn’t make insulin…. With Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas usually produces some insulin. But either the amount produced is not enough for the body’s needs, or the body’s cells are resistant to it. Insulin resistance, or lack of sensitivity to insulin, happens primarily in fat, liver, and muscle cells.”

This is all starting to make sense.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

HIV and CKD

Every morning, although I don’t have enough energy yet to create original posts, I peruse the Facebook Chronic Kidney Disease pages, Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn for current information about CKD. I was surprised to see a post seeming to claim that Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can cause CKD. How had I never heard about this before?

As usual when I don’t know or understand something, I decided to investigate. My first stop was The National Institutes of Health at https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/understanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/26/99/hiv-and-kidney-disease.

• “The kidneys are two fist-sized organs in the body that are located near the middle of the back on either side of the spine. The main job of the kidneys is to filter harmful waste and extra water from the blood. (We know that already.)
• Injury or disease, including HIV infection, can damage the kidneys and lead to kidney disease.
• High blood pressure and diabetes are the leading causes of kidney disease. In people with HIV, poorly controlled HIV infection and coinfection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) also increase the risk of kidney disease.
• Some HIV medicines can affect the kidneys. Health care providers carefully consider the risk of kidney damage when recommending specific HIV medicines to include in an HIV regimen.
• Kidney disease can advance to kidney failure. The treatments for kidney failure are dialysis and a kidney transplant. Both treatments are used to treat kidney failure in people with HIV.”

Well, I knew there was a possibility of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) leading to CKD, but HIV? What’s that? Oh, sorry, of course I’ll explain what HIV is. Actually, it’s not me doing the explaining, but the Center for Disease Control (CDC) at https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html.

“HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS if not treated. Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely, even with treatment. So once you get HIV, you have it for life.

HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last stage of HIV infection.

No effective cure currently exists, but with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART.  If people with HIV take ART as prescribed, their viral load (amount of HIV in their blood) can become undetectable. If it stays undetectable, they can live long, healthy lives and have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.”

So, it’s not only HIV itself that can cause CKD, but also the drugs used to treat HIV.

The National Kidney Foundation at https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/hiv-and-chronic-kidney-disease-what-you-need-know  offers some ideas about how to avoid CKD if you have HIV:

“Many people with HIV do not get kidney disease or kidney failure. Talk to your health care provider about your chances of getting kidney disease. If you have HIV, you can lower your chances by:

• Checking your blood pressure as often as your doctor recommends and taking steps to keep it under control
• Taking all your HIV medications as prescribed
• Asking your doctor about HIV drugs that have a lower risk of causing kidney damage
• Controlling your blood sugar if you have diabetes
• Taking medicines to control your blood glucose, cholesterol, anemia, and blood pressure if your doctor orders them for you
• Asking your doctor to test you for kidney disease at least once each year if you:
  • Have a large amount of HIV in your blood
  • Have a low level of blood cells that help fight HIV (CD4 cells)
  • Are African American, Hispanic American, Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian
  • Have diabetes, high blood pressure, or hepatitis C”

It seems to me that avoiding CKD if you have HIV is almost the same as taking care of your CKD if you didn’t have HIV, except for the specific HIV information.

I now understand why it’s so important to take the hepatitis C vaccine. I turned to UpToDate at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/treatment-of-chronic-hepatitis-c-virus-infection-in-the-hiv-infected-patient for further information about hepatitis C and HIV.

“The consequences of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in HIV-infected patients are significant and include accelerated liver disease progression, high rates of end-stage liver disease, and shortened lifespan after hepatic decompensation, in particular among those with more advanced immunodeficiency …. In the era of potent antiretroviral therapy, end-stage liver disease remains a major cause of death among HIV-infected patients who are coinfected with HCV ….”

Remember that drugs leave your body via either your liver or kidneys. If your kidneys are already compromised by HIV or the medications used to treat your HIV, you need a high functioning liver. If your liver is compromised by hepatitis C, you need high functioning kidneys. I was unable to determine just what high functioning meant as far as your kidneys or liver, so if you find out, let us know.

Please be as careful as possible to avoid HIV, and if you do have it, pay special attention to being treated for it. I’d like it if you were one of the people who is “diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced [so that you] can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.”

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

How Will They Know?

Let’s start this month with a guest blog by American Medical Alert IDs. Why? Although I am not endorsing this particular brand, because I clearly remember being give Sulphur drugs in the Emergency Room when I was by myself and unable to let the medical staff there know I have Chronic Kidney Disease. Why? Because I remember that my husband fell when I was out of town. His grown children took him to the emergency room but didn’t know about his latex allergy and he was in no condition to explain.

 

Everything You Need To Know About Medical Alert IDs for Chronic Kidney Disease

Are you debating on getting a medical alert ID for chronic kidney disease? It’s time to take the confusion out of choosing and engraving a medical ID. This post will show you everything you need to know so you can enjoy the benefits of wearing one.

Why Kidney Patients Should Wear a Medical Alert ID

A medical ID serves as an effective tool to alert emergency staff of a patient’s special care needs, even when a person can’t speak for themselves. When every second counts, wearing a medical ID can help protect the kidney and safeguard its remaining function.

In emergencies, anyone diagnosed with chronic kidney disease or kidney failure may require special medical attention and monitoring. It is important that patients are able to communicate and identify their medical condition at all times. This includes individuals who are:

• Undergoing in-center hemodialysis
• Undergoing home hemodialysis
• On Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD)
• On Continuous Cycling Peritoneal Dialysis (CCPD)
• Transplant recipients
• Diagnosed with diabetes

Delays in getting the proper treatment needed for chronic kidney disease may lead to the following complications:

• Fatal levels of potassium or hyperkalemia. This condition can lead to dangerous, and possibly deadly, changes in the heart rhythm.

• Increased risk of peritonitis or inflammation of the membranes of the abdominal wall and organs. Peritonitis is a life-threatening emergency that needs prompt medical treatment.
• Anemia or decreased supply in red blood cells. Anemia can make a patient tired, weak, and short of breath.
• Heart disease, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and stroke
• High blood pressure which can cause further damage to the kidneys and negatively impact blood vessels, heart, and other organs in the body.
• Fluid buildup in the body that can cause problems with the heart and lungs.

According to Medscape, the most common cause of sudden death in patients with ESRD is hyperkalemia, which often follows missed dialysis or dietary indiscretion. The most common cause of death overall in the dialysis population is cardiovascular disease; cardiovascular mortality is 10-20 times higher in dialysis patients than in the general population.

Kidney Patients Who Wear a Medical ID Have 62% Lower Risk of Renal Failure

In a study of 350 patients, primarily in CKD stages 2 through 5, those who wore a medical ID bracelet or necklace had a 62% lower risk of developing kidney failure, based on eGFR. Wearing a medical-alert bracelet or necklace was associated with a lower risk of developing kidney failure compared with usual care.

Wearing a medical ID can serve as a reminder to look after your health and make the right choices such as taking medication on time and sticking to proper diet.

6 Things to Engrave on Kidney Disease Medical ID

A custom engraved medical alert jewelry can hold precise information that is specific to the wearer’s health condition. Here are some of the most important items to put on a chronic kidney disease or kidney failure medical ID:

• Name
• Medical information – including if you have other medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure
• Stage of CKD or kidney function
• Transplant information
• Current list of medicines
• Contact person

Some patients have a long list of medications that may not fit on the engraved part of an ID. An emergency wallet card is recommended to use for listing down your medicines and other information or medical history.

 

Click here to enlarge chronic kidney disease infographic

Do you wear or carry a form of medical identification with you? Please share your experience or tips with us by posting a comment.

Ready for a new topic? All right then. Ever have a problem drinking your coffee? I know I have… until I followed these tips from the Cleveland Clinic at https://health.clevelandclinic.org/coffee-giving-you-tummy-trouble-try-these-low-acid-options/:

Here’s hoping that next cup of coffee treats you well.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

 

Stay in the Blood, PLEASE

Let’s finish out this lazy, hazy summer month of August with another reader question. This one was quite straight forward:

“Any advice to slow down protein leaking into urine. Hard to build muscle when you keep excreting protein”

The condition of leaking protein into your urine is called proteinuria. That’s almost self-explanatory. The root of the word actually says protein while the suffix (group of related letters added to the end of a word which changes its meaning) is defined as,

“-uria.

1. suffix meaning the “presence of a substance in the urine”: ammoniuria, calciuria, enzymuria.
2. combining form meaning “(condition of) possessing urine”: paruria, polyuria, pyuria.

Thank you to the Medical Dictionary at https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/-uria for the definition of uria.

Okay, so we know that protein is leaking into the urine. Not good. Why? We need it in our blood, not excreted in our urine. The following is from a previous blog on proteinuria. I used the dropdown menu in “Topics” on the right side of the blog page to find it or any other topic listed there. You can, too.

“According to WebMD at https://www.webmd.com/men/features/benefits-protein#1:

‘Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.’”

Got it. Our reader is correct; it is hard to build muscle if you’re “excreting protein.” Now what? I usually stick to medical sites but this comment from Healthfully at https://healthfully.com/170108-how-to-reduce-excess-protein-in-the-kidney.html caught my eye.

“Continue monitoring how much protein your kidneys are spilling for several months. Since colds and infections can cause transient increases in protein, you will want at least several months of data.”

As Chronic Kidney Disease patients, we usually have quarterly urine tests… or, at least, I do. My urine protein level is included. I did not know that colds and infections are a factor here. Here’s an old urine analysis of mine. You can see Protein, Urine fourth from the bottom.

Component	Your Value	Standard Range
Color, Urine	Yellow	Colorless, Light Yellow, Yellow, Dark Yellow, Straw
Clarity, Urine	Clear	Clear
Glucose, Urine	Negative mg/dL	Negative mg/dL
Bilirubin, Urine	Negative	Negative
Ketones, Urine	Negative mg/dL	Negative mg/dL
Specific Gravity, Urine	1.013	1.007 – 1.026
Blood, Urine	Negative	Negative
pH, Urine	7.0	5.0 – 8.0
Protein, Urine	Negative mg/dL	Negative mg/dL
Urobilinogen, Urine	<2.0 mg/dL	<2.0 mg/dL
Nitrite, Urine	Negative	Negative
Leukocyte Esterase, Urine	Negative	Negative

Let’s say our reader did not have a cold or infection. What else could she do to slow down this loss of protein via her urine?

The American Kidney Fund at http://www.kidneyfund.org/kidney-disease/kidney-problems/protein-in-urine.html suggests the following:

“If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, the first and second most common causes of kidney disease, it is important to make sure these conditions are under control.

If you have diabetes, controlling it will mean checking your blood sugar often, taking medicines as your doctor tells you to, and following a healthy eating and exercise plan. If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may tell you to take a medicine to help lower your blood pressure and protect your kidneys from further damage. The types of medicine that can help with blood pressure and proteinuria are called angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).

If you have protein in your urine, but you do not have diabetes or high blood pressure, an ACE inhibitor or an ARB may still help to protect your kidneys from further damage. If you have protein in your urine, talk to your doctor about choosing the best treatment option for you.”

So far, we’ve discovered that frequent urine testing, determining if you have a cold or infection, keeping your diabetes and blood pressure under control, and/or ACE inhibitors may be helpful. But here’s my eternal question: What else can slow down the spilling of protein into our urine?

The Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc. at http://www.kidneyurology.org/Library/Kidney_Health/Proteinuria.php has some more ideas about that:

“In addition to blood glucose and blood pressure control, restricting dietary salt and protein intake is recommended. Your doctor may refer you to a dietitian to help you develop and follow a healthy eating plan.”

As CKD patients, we know we need to cut down on salt intake. I actually eliminate added salt and have banned the salt shakers from the kitchen. No wonder no one but me likes my cooking. You do lose your taste for salt eventually. After all these years, I taste salt in restaurant food that makes that particular food unpalatable to me.

Hmmm, it seems to me that a list of high protein foods might be helpful here.

POULTRY…

• Skinless chicken breast – 4oz – 183 Calories – 30g Protein – 0 Carbs – 7g Fat
• Skinless chicken (Dark) – 4 oz – 230 Calories – 32g Protein – 0 Carbs – 5g Fat
• Skinless Turkey (White) – 4 oz – 176 Calories – 34g Protein – 0 Carbs – 3.5g Fat
• Skinless Turkey (Dark) – 4 oz – 211 Calories – 31g Protein – 0 Carbs – 8.1 g Fat

FISH…

• Salmon – 3 oz – 119 Calories – 17g Protein – 0 Carbs – 5.5g Fat
• Halibut – 3 oz – 91 Calories – 18g Protein – 0 Carbs – 3g Fat
• Tuna – 1/4 cup – 70 Calories – 18g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0g Fat
• Mackerel – 3 oz – 178 Calories – 16.1g Protein – 0 Carbs – 12g Fat
• Anchovies (packed in water) – 1 oz – 42 Calories – 6g Protein – 1.3g Fat
• Flounder – 1 127g fillet – 149 Calories – 30.7g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0.5g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Swordfish – 1 piece 106g – 164 Calories – 26.9g Protein – 0 Carbs – 1.5g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Cod – 1 fillet 180g – 189 Calories – 41.4g protein – 0 Carbs – 0.3g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Herring – 1 fillet 143g – 290 Calories – 32.9g Protein – 0 Carbs – 3.7g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Haddock – 1 fillet 150g – 168 Calories – 36.4g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0.3g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Grouper – fillet 202g – 238 Calories – 50.2g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0.6g Fat (High Cholesterol)
• Snapper – 1 fillet 170g – 218 Calories – 44.7g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0.6g Fat (High Cholesterol)

BEEF…

• Eye of round steak – 3 oz – 276 Calories – 49g Protein – 2.4g Fat
• Sirloin tip side steak – 3 oz -206 Calories – 39g Protein – 2g Fat
• Top sirloin – 3 oz – 319 Calories – 50.9g Protein – 4g Fat
• Bottom round steak – 3 oz – 300 Calories – 47g Protein – 3.5g Fat
• Top round steak – 3 oz – 240 Calories – 37g Protein – 3.1g Fat

PORK…

• Pork loin – 3 oz – 180 Calories – 25g Protein – 0 Carbs – 2.9g Fat (High in cholesterol)
• Tenderloin– 3 oz – 103 Calories – 18g Protein – 0.3g Carbs – 1.2g Fat (High in cholesterol)

GAME MEATS…

• Bison – 3 0z – 152 Calories – 21.6g Protein – 0 Carbs – 3g Fat
• Rabbit – 3 oz – 167 Calories – 24.7g Protein – 0 Carbs – 2.0g Fat
• Venison (Deer loin broiled) – 3 oz – 128 Calories – 25.7g Protein – 0 Carbs – 0.7g Fat

GRAINS…

• Cooked Quinoa – 1/2 cup – 115 Calories – 4.1g Protein – 22 Carbs – 2g Fat
• Cooked Brown Rice – 1/2 cup – 106 Calories – 2.7g Protein – 23 Carbs – 0.7g Fat
• Regular Popcorn (Air Popped no oil) – 1 cup – 60 Calories – 2g Protein – 11 Carbs – 0.6g Fat
• Steel cut Oatmeal – 1 cup – 145 Calories – 7g Protein – 25g Carbs – 2.5g Fat
• Multi grain bread – 1 slice – 68.9 Calories – 3.5g Protein – 11.3g Carbs – 0.2g Fat

BEANS (All nutrition values calculated for cooked beans)…

• Tofu – 1/2 cup – 98 Calories – 11g Protein – 2g Carbs – 6g Fat
• Lentils – 1/2 cup – 119 Calories – 9g Protein – 20g Carbs – 0.3g Fat
• Black beans – 1/2 cup – 115 Calories – 7.8g Protein – 20 Carbs – 0.4g Fat
• Kidney beans – 1/2 cup – 111 Calories – 7.2g Protein – 20.2 Carbs – 0.4g Fat
• Lima beans – 1/2 cup – 110 Calories – 7.4g Protein – 19.7 Carbs – 0.3g Fat
• Soy beans – 1/2 cup – 133 Calories – 11g Protein – 10 Carbs – 5.9g Fat

DAIRY…

• Skim milk – 1 cup – 90 Calories – 9g Protein – 12g Carbs – 4.8g Fat
• Low fat Yogurt – 1 cup – 148 Calories – 12g Protein – 17Carbs – 3.2g Fat
• Non fat Yogurt – 1 cup – 130 Calories – 13g Protein – 16.9 Carbs – 0.4 Fat
• Cheddar cheese – 1 oz – 116 Calories – 7g Protein – 0.4 Carbs – 9.2g Fat
• Low fat Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup – 82 Calories – 14g Protein – 3.1g Carbs – 0.7g Fat
• One large egg – 73 Calories – 6.6g Protein – 0 Carbs – 6g Fat
• Low fat Milk – 1 cup – 119 Calories – 8g Protein – 12 Carbs – 4.6g Fat

NUTS & SEEDS…

• Raw Almonds – 1 oz about 22 whole – 169 Calories – 22g Carbs – 6.2g Protein – 1.1g Fat
• Raw Pistachios – 1 oz about 49 Kernels – 157 Calories – 7.9g Carbs – 5.8g Protein – 1.5g Fat
• Pumpkin seeds – 1 oz – 28g about 100 hulled seeds – 151 Calories – 5g Carbs – 6.0g Protein – 2.4g Fat
• Raw Macadamia nuts – 1 oz about 10- 12 kernels – 203 Calories – 4g Carbs – 2.2g Protein – 3.4g Fat
• Chia seeds – 1 oz – 137 Calories – 12.3g Carbs – 4.4g Protein – 0.9g Fat
• Walnuts – 1 cup in shell about 7 total – 183 Calories – 3.8g Carbs – 4.3g Protein – 1.7g Fat
• Raw Cashews1oz – 28g – 155 Calories – 9.2g Carbs – 5.1g Protein – 2.2g Fat

MORE HIGH PROTEIN FOODS…

• Natural peanut butter – 1 oz – 146 Calories – 7.3g Protein – 10g Carbs – 1.6g Fat
• Natural almond butter – 1 tbsp – 101 Calories – 2.4g Protein – 3.4 Carbs – 0.9g Fat
• Natural cashew butter – 1 tbsp – 93.9 Calories – 2.8g Protein – 4.4 Carbs – 1.6g Fat
• Hummus – 1 oz – 46.5 Calories – 2.2g Protein – 4.0g Carbs – 0.4g Fat
• Tempeh Cooked – 1 oz – 54 Calories – 5.1g Protein – 2.6g Carbs – 1.0g Fat

There’s a vegan list on the same site. Be leery of protein sources that are not on your kidney diet.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

 

Diabetic Neuropathy or Not: I WILL Dance Again

I come from a family of dancers. My parents and their siblings were all light on their feet and danced from the time they were teens right up until just before their deaths. It was a delight to watch them. The tradition continued with me… and my youngest who actually taught blues dancing for several years.

Ah, but then my neuropathy appeared. This was years before the diabetes diagnosis. Hmmm, there’s still a question as to whether or not the diabetes was caused by the pancreatic cancer. After all, the pancreas does produce insulin.

I just reread the above two paragraphs and see so much that needs some basic explanation. Let’s start with those explanations this week. How many of you know what neuropathy is? I didn’t either until I was diagnosed with it. According to my favorite dictionary since college a million years ago, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neuropathy defines neuropathy as:

“damage, disease, or dysfunction of one or more nerves especially of the peripheral nervous system that is typically marked by burning or shooting pain, numbness, tingling, or muscle weakness or atrophy, is often degenerative, and is usually caused by injury, infection, disease, drugs, toxins, or vitamin deficiency “

If you clicked though on ‘peripheral nervous system’ in the dictionary definition, you know it means,

“the part of the nervous system that is outside the central nervous system and comprises the cranial nerves excepting the optic nerve, the spinal nerves, and the autonomic nervous system”

Since the neuropathy was so minor before the pancreatic cancer, I wasn’t even aware of it until my neurologist did some testing. I knew my feet were tingly sometimes, but I thought they had fallen asleep. It did sort of feel like that.

Then, I started chemotherapy in March. The tingling became so bad that I couldn’t feel my feet under me and had to rely on a cane to keep my balance. We thought it was the chemo drugs causing the neuropathy. Uh-oh, that was just about when my hands became affected, too, and my A1C (Remember that one? It’s the blood test for the average of your blood glucose over a three month period.) rose all the way to 7.1.

Healthline at https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/ac1-test#understanding-the-results tells us,

“Someone without diabetes will have about 5 percent of their hemoglobin glycated [Gail here: that means glucose bonded to hemoglobin]. A normal A1C level is 5.6 percent or below, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

A level of 5.7 to 6.4 percent indicates prediabetes. People with diabetes have an A1C level of 6.5 percent or above.”

Mind you, during chemotherapy I’d been ordered to eat whatever I could. Getting in the calories would cut down on the expected weight loss. In all honesty, I’m the only person I know what gained weight while on chemotherapy.

Now, what is this about the pancreas producing insulin? Might as well get a definition of insulin while we’re at it. MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3989 offered the simplest explanation:

“A natural hormone made by the pancreas that controls the level of the sugar glucose in the blood. Insulin permits cells to use glucose for energy. Cells cannot utilize glucose without insulin.”

That would explain why my energy is practically nil, but it also seems to indicate that I won’t be able to do anything about it until after the surgery to remove the tumor. Although, when I start radiation next week, I may be able to go back to the diabetic diet. By the way, after following the Chronic Kidney Disease diet for 11 years, none of the new – off the CKD diet – foods I tried are appealing to me.

But I digress. So, what now? I need to dance; it’s part of who I am. My oncologist referred me to Occupational Therapy. Now I have exercises and tactile surfaces to explore that may be helpful. But what about those who are not going through chemotherapy, but do have diabetic neuropathy? Remember diabetes is the number cause of CKD.

Oh, my goodness. It looks like there are as many ways to treat neuropathy as there are different kinds of neuropathy. I hadn’t expected that. EverydayHealth at https://www.everydayhealth.com/neuropathy/guide/treatment/ gives us an idea of just how complicated choosing the proper treatment for your neuropathy can be:

“What Are the Main Ways That Neuropathy Is Treated?

Treating neuropathy in general focuses first on identifying and then addressing the underlying condition to help prevent further damage and give nerves the time they need to heal to the extent that they can.

“The treatment for the neuropathy is to reverse whatever it is that is causing the neuropathy,” says Clifford Segil, DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “We try to reverse the insult to the nerves first and then do symptomatic control.”

For people with diabetic neuropathy, the first step physicians take is getting the person’s blood glucose level under control, says Matthew Villani, DPM, a podiatrist at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, Florida.

This treatment approach aims to remove the “insult” created by the excess sugar to peripheral nerves throughout the body — but especially the extremities, Dr. Segil explains.

Here are some other ways diabetic neuropathy may be treated:

• Pain, burning, and tingling are treated with over-the-counter and prescription medication such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), topical creams, COX-2 inhibitors, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioids. [Gail again, as CKD patients we’re out on the NSAIDS.]

• Numbness or complete loss of sensation can lead to complications such as ulcers, sores, and limb amputations. It is addressed by monitoring the affected areas — often the feet — for injuries and addressing wounds before they become more serious, as well as prescribing protective footwear and braces.
• Orthostatic hypotension (a drop in blood pressure upon standing up), which is an autonomic symptom, can be treated with increased sodium intake, a vasopressor such as ProAmatine (midodrine) to constrict blood vessels, a synthetic mineralocorticoid such as fludrocortisone to help maintain the balance of salt in the body, or a cholinesterase inhibitor such as pyridostigmine, which affects neurotransmitters.
• Gastroparesis, a delayed emptying of the stomach, is another autonomic symptom, which can be treated with medication to control nausea and vomiting, such as Reglan (metoclopramide), Ery-Tab (erythromycin), antiemetics, and antidepressants, as well as pain medication for abdominal discomfort.
• Motor neuropathy symptoms can include weakness and muscle wasting, particularly in the lower extremities, as well as deformities of the feet and loss of the Achilles’ heel tendon reflex. Treatments can include physical therapy to regain strength, as well as braces and orthotics.

I’ve got to think about this. Any questions? Well, then,

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Clinical Trials Day

By now, you probably all know that I chose a clinical trial to treat my pancreatic cancer. But did you know that today, May 20th, is Clinical Trials Day? What’s that, you ask? Let’s find out together. According to The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) at http://www.clinicaltrialsday.org/:

“WHY MAY 20?

Clinical Trials Day is celebrated around the world in May to recognize the day that James Lind started what is often considered the first randomized clinical trial aboard a ship on May 20, 1747.

HERE’S THE STORY

May, 1747.

The HMS Salisbury of Britain’s Royal Navy fleet patrols the English Channel at a time when scurvy is thought to have killed more British seamen than French and Spanish arms.

Aboard this ship, surgeon mate James Lind, a pioneer of naval hygiene, conducts what many refer to as the first clinical trial.

Acting on a hunch that scurvy was caused by putrefaction of the body that could be cured through the introduction of acids, Lind recruited 12 men for his ‘fair test.’…

---

From The James Lind Library:

Without stating what method of allocation he used, Lind allocated two men to each of six different daily treatments for a period of fourteen days. The six treatments were: 1.1 litres of cider; twenty-five millilitres of elixir vitriol (dilute sulphuric acid); 18 millilitres of vinegar three times throughout the day before meals; half a pint of sea water; two oranges and one lemon continued for six days only (when the supply was exhausted); and a medicinal paste made up of garlic, mustard seed, dried radish root and gum myrrh.…

Those allocated citrus fruits experienced ‘the most sudden and good visible effects,’ according to Lind’s report on the trial.

Though Lind, according to The James Lind Library, might have left his readers ‘confused about his recommendations’ regarding the use of citrus in curing scurvy, he is ‘rightly recognized for having taken care to “‘compare like with like’’, and the design of his trial may have inspired ‘and informed future clinical trial design.'”

I’ve written about James Lind before, so you may want to re-read the 8/20/18 blog to read more about him and his experiments.

Time travel to 2019 with me, if you will, to read what Antidote.Me has to offer in the way of Chronic Kidney Disease Clinical Trials.

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Headline: Chronic Kidney Disease Research: How to Get Involved

By Nancy Ryerson

May 20 is Clinical Trials Day. Every year, patient advocates and research groups participate to raise awareness of how clinical trial participation drives research progress. You may know that new treatments for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) can’t move forward without clinical trial volunteers, but you may not know how to find active, relevant trials in your area.

Below, you’ll find answers to commonly asked questions about finding CKD clinical trials, including who can join, how to find trials, and the kinds of questions CKD research aims to answer.

How can I find Chronic Kidney Disease clinical trials near me?

There are currently 171 research studies for CKD looking for volunteers in the United States. All clinical trials are listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, but because the website was developed with researchers in mind rather than patients, it can be difficult for patients to navigate. Antidote is a clinical trial matching company that provides a patient-friendly clinical trial search tool to health nonprofits and bloggers, including this blog. With the Antidote tool, you can answer a few questions about your medical history and where you’d like to find a trial to receive a list of trials you may qualify for in your area. You can also sign up to receive alerts when new trials are added near you.

Who can join CKD clinical trials?

 It’s a common misconception that clinical trials only need volunteers who have been recently diagnosed to take part. It’s also untrue that clinical trials are only a “last resort” for patients who have exhausted other options. In reality, clinical trials can be a care option for patients at any point after diagnosis. CKD trials need volunteers with mild, moderate, and severe kidney disease to participate in different trials. Some trials also look for patients with specific comorbidities, such as hypertension. 

What does CKD research typically focus on? 

Clinical trials for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) research potential new treatments to slow or stop CKD, as well as treat common conditions associated with CKD, such as anemia or hypertension.

CKD clinical trials aren’t limited to research into new drugs, either. For example, a kidney-friendly diet can make a significant difference in reducing kidney damage, and more research is needed into specific interventions that can help. Research studies are also looking into the impact exercise can have on CKD symptoms and progression.

Clinical trials may also be observational. These kinds of trials don’t test an intervention – a drug, diet, lifestyle change, etc. Instead, participants are divided into groups and observed for differences in outcome. 

Do clinical trials always use a placebo? 

In clinical trials, placebos – also known as “sugar pills” – help researchers understand the effectiveness of an experimental treatment. While they can be an important part of the research process, it’s also understandable that patients hope they won’t receive the placebo in a clinical trial.

If you’re considering taking part in a trial but you’re concerned about receiving a placebo, it’s important to know that not all trials use one. Many trials test a potential new treatment against the standard of care, for example. In some trials that use a placebo, everyone in the trial may receive the study drug at some point during the trial. 

I don’t have time to participate in a clinical trial.

Time restraints are another reason many patients hesitate to participate in clinical trials. While some clinical trials may require weekly site visits, others may only ask participants to come in every month or so. Some trials may also offer virtual visits online or home visits to help reduce the number of trips you’ll need to take to get to a site. When you’re considering joining a clinical trial, ask the study team any questions you have about the trial schedule, reimbursement for travel, or anything else about participation.

Interested in finding a trial near you? Use the SlowItDownCKD trial search, powered by Antidote, to start your search. (Gail here: It’s at the bottom right hand side of the blog roll.)

Ladies and Gentleman, start your motors! I hope you find just the right CKD Clinical Trial for you.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Don’t Know Much about FSGS…

Being on chemotherapy is very tiring, so I stay home a lot and delve into anything that catches my eye, like FSGS. I’ve seen the letters before and had sort of a vague idea of what it might be, but what better time to explore it and whatever it may have to do with Chronic Kidney Disease than now?

Let’s start at the beginning. FSGS is the acronym for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Anything look familiar? Maybe the ‘glomerul’ part of glomerulosclerosis? I think we need to know the definition of glomerulosclerosis to be able to answer that question. The National Institutes of Health’s U.S. National Library of Congress’s Medline Plus at https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000478.htm defines it this way:

“Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis is scar tissue in the filtering unit of the kidney. This structure is called the glomerulus. The glomeruli serve as filters that help the body get rid of harmful substances. Each kidney has thousands of glomeruli.

‘Focal’ means that some of the glomeruli become scarred. Others remain normal. ‘Segmental’ means that only part of an individual glomerulus is damaged.”

So, we do know what the ‘glomerul’ part of glomerulosclerosis means. It refers to the same filters in the kidneys we’ve been discussing for the past eleven years: the glomeruli. This former English teacher can assure you that ‘o’ is simply a connective between the two parts of the word. ‘Sclerosis’ is a term you may have heard of in relation to the disease of the same name, the one in which the following occurs (according to Encarta Dictionary):

“the hardening and thickening of body tissue as a result of unwarranted growth, degeneration of nerve fibers, or deposition of minerals, especially calcium.”

Wait a minute. When I first started writing about CKD, I approached NephCure Foundation… not being certain what it was, but seeing Neph in its name. They were kind enough to ask me to guest blog for them on 8/21/11. By the way, as of August 15, 2014, NephCure Foundation became NephCure Kidney International. That makes the connection to our kidneys much more clear.

Back to FSGS. The NephCure Kidney International website at https://nephcure.org/ offers us this information:

“How is FSGS Diagnosed?

FSGS is diagnosed with renal biopsy (when doctors examine a tiny portion of the kidney tissue), however, because only some sections of the glomeruli are affected, the biopsy can sometimes be inconclusive.

What are the Symptoms of FSGS?

Many people with FSGS have no symptoms at all.  When symptoms are present the most common include:

Proteinuria – Large amounts of protein ‘spilling’ into the urine

Edema – Swelling in parts of the body, most noticeable around the eyes, hands and feet, and abdomen which causes sudden weight gain.

Low Blood Albumin Levels because the kidneys are removing albumin instead of returning it to the blood

High Cholesterol in some cases

High Blood Pressure in some cases and can often be hard to treat

FSGS can also cause abnormal results of creatinine in laboratory tests. Creatinine is measured by taking a blood sample. Everyone has a certain amount of a substance called creatinine floating in his or her blood. This substance is always being produced by healthy muscles and normally the kidneys constantly filter it out and the level of creatinine stays low. But when the filters become damaged, they stop filtering properly and the level of creatinine left in the blood goes up.”

Whoa! Look at all the terms we’ve used again and again in the last eleven years of SlowItDownCKD’s weekly blog: proteinuria, edema, albumin, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and creatinine. This is definitely something that we, as CKD patients, should know about.

Okay. Let’s say you are diagnosed with FSGS. Now what? The National Kidney Organization at https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/focal was helpful here:

“How is FSGS treated?

The type of treatment you get depends on the cause. Everyone is different and your doctor will make a treatment plan that is right for your type of FSGS. Usually, treatments for FSGS include:

• Corticosteroids (often called “steroids”)
• Immunosuppressive drugs
• ACE inhibitors and ARBs
• Diuretics
• Diet change

Corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs: These medications are used to calm your immune system (your body’s defense system) and stop it from attacking your glomeruli.

ACE inhibitors and ARBs: These are blood pressure medications used to reduce protein loss and control blood pressure.”

Diuretics: These medications help your body get rid of excess fluid and swelling. These can be used to lower your blood pressure too.

Diet changes:  Some diet changes may be needed, such as reducing salt (sodium) and protein in your food choices to lighten the load of wastes on the kidneys.”

I think we need another definition here. Yep, it’s Plasmapheresis. Back to the Encarta Dictionary.

“a process in which blood taken from a patient is treated to extract the cells and corpuscles, which are then added to another fluid and returned to the patient’s body.”

Let’s go back to The NephCure Kidney International website at https://nephcure.org/ for a succinct summary of FSGS Facts.

“More than 5400 patients are diagnosed with FSGS every year, however, this is considered an underestimate because:

• a limited number of biopsies are performed
• the number of FSGS cases are rising more than any other cause of Nephrotic Syndrome…

NephCure estimates that there are currently 19,306 people living with ESRD due to FSGS…, in part because it is the most common cause of steroid resistant Nephrotic Syndrome in children,… and it is the second leading cause of kidney failure in children…

NephCure estimates that people of African ancestry are at a five times higher diagnosis rate of FSGS…

About half of FSGS patients who do not respond to steroids go into ESRD each year, requiring dialysis or transplantation…

Approximately 1,000 FSGS patients a year receive kidney transplants… however, within hours to weeks after a kidney transplant, FSGS returns in approximately 30-40% of patients….”

As prevalent and serious as this sounds, please remember that FSGS is a rare kidney disease. Knowing what we now know just may help you keep your eyes open for it.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

That’s Not a Kind of Kidney Disease. Or Is It?

It’s like I’m attuned to anything kidney. After eleven years of writing about Chronic Kidney Disease, I’ll bet I am. Sometimes, it’s the smallest connection that triggers something in my mind. For example, Sjögren’s syndrome kept nagging at me, although I’d never heard of it as a sort of kidney disease. So, what was it and what did it have to do with the kidneys? I went right to the Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation at https://info.sjogrens.org/conquering-sjogrens/sjogrens-kidney-disease for information.

“Sjögren’s & Kidney Disease

by Philip L. Cohen, MD, Professor of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine 

About 5% of people with Sjögren’s develop kidney problems. In most of these patients, the cause is inflammation around the kidney tubules, where urine is collected, concentrated, and becomes acidic. The infiltrating blood cells (mostly lymphocytes) injure the tubular cells, so that the urine does not become as acidic as it should. This condition, called distal renal tubular acidosis, is frequently asymptomatic, but can cause excessive potassium to be excreted in the urine, and may lead to kidney stones or (very rarely) low enough blood potassium to cause muscle weakness or heart problems. Very occasionally, injury to the renal tubules can cause impairment in the ability to concentrate urine, leading to excessive urine volume and increased drinking of fluids (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus).

A smaller number of patients with Sjögren’s may develop inflammation of the glomeruli, which are the tiny capillaries through which blood is filtered to produce urine. This may cause protein to leak into the urine, along with red blood cells. Sometimes a kidney biopsy is needed to establish the exact diagnosis and treatment. Treatment options may include corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs to prevent loss of kidney function.

This information was first printed in The Moisture Seekers, SSF’s patient newsletter for members.”

This reminds me of when I was teaching critical thinking on the college level. First, we’d hit the class with an article about something foreign to them and then, we’d show them how to figure out what it meant. For our purposes, a few explanations and perhaps a diagram or two might be a good place to start.

Tubules, huh? What are those? Actually, the word just means tube shaped. Remembering that renal and kidney mean the same thing, we can see the problem area.

Here’s another picture. This one to show you glomeruli.

Now remember, CKD patients are usually limited as to how much fluid they can drink per day. Too much forces the kidneys to work too hard to clear the urine from your body. Remember the car analogy from What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease?

As for potassium, that’s one of the electrolytes CKD patients need to be aware of. This article by Dr. Parker on Healthy Way at http://www.bmj-health.com/what-does-potassium-do/ explains:

“Potassium does many important functions in the body. This essential mineral is mainly found inside the cells of our body. Low potassium levels are associated with many health conditions including hypertension, irregular heartbeat, and muscle weakness. We should take adequate amounts of potassium-rich foods for a healthy life.

Potassium is essential for the heart

We need potassium to maintain the blood pressure within normal range. There should be a balance between sodium and potassium in the body to regulate our blood pressure. Too much sodium and too little potassium can elevate your blood pressure.

In addition, potassium is needed for the contraction of the heart. Potassium levels in the blood should be kept nearly constant or within a narrow range for the proper pumping action of the heart. The heart may stop beating if we have high or low levels of potassium in the blood.

We need potassium for stronger muscles

Most of the potassium in the body is found inside the muscle cells. It is the main positively charged ion inside the cells. It is essential for the contraction of muscles. Low levels of potassium are associated with muscle twitching, cramps and muscle weakness. Very low levels can cause paralysis of the muscles.

Hypokalemic periodic paralysis is a disorder that causes occasional episodes of muscle weakness and paralysis caused by lower levels of potassium in the blood. It is a genetic condition that runs in families.

It is essential for nerve conduction

Sodium and potassium are needed to maintain the electrical potential across the nerve cells. This electrical charge is essential for the conduction of nerve signals along the nerves.

It protects from stroke

Researchers found eating potassium-rich foods is associated with reduced incidents of stroke. A recent study conducted in postmenopausal women supports the findings. One of the co-researchers says, ‘post-menopausal women should eat more potassium-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, milk and unprocessed meats in order to lower their risk of stroke and death’.

It is important for water and electrolyte balance in the body

Water and electrolyte balance is maintained by the kidneys. This is one of the important functions of the kidneys. Aldosterone, a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands plays the primary role in the balance of sodium and potassium.

The normal blood level of potassium is 3.5 to 5 mmol/l. A level of less than 3.5 is called hypokalemia, and more than 5 is called hyperkalemia. To achieve the normal blood level, we need to take about 4 to 5 grams of potassium per day. An average size banana will provide about 25% of daily requirement.

It is recommended to eat foods that have plenty of potassium. In addition, your diet should contain low amounts of sodium (salt). Taking supplements is not a good idea. It can cause many side effects.

People who have certain medical conditions such as chronic kidney failure should not eat large amounts of potassium-rich foods.

People who take certain types of medications should consult a doctor about their potassium intake. Some may need additional intake while others may need to restrict the intake of potassium rich foods.”

So, while Sjögren’s syndrome may not be a kind of kidney disease, it can affect your kidneys. Thanks for keeping me company while I made the connection for myself.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Chemo and My Kidneys

 As most of you know, I am extremely protective of my kidneys. When I was first diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease 11 years ago, my eGFR was only 39. Here’s a quick reminder of what the eGFR is from my first CKD book, What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease:

“GFR: Glomerular filtration rate [if there is a lower case ‘e’ before the term, it means estimated glomerular filtration rate] which determines both the stage of kidney disease and how well the kidneys are functioning.”

39. That’s stage 3B, the lower part of stage 3B. During the intervening 11 years, I’ve been able to raise it to 50 (and sometimes higher for short periods) via vigorously following the renal diet, exercising, avoiding stress as much as possible, maintaining adequate sleep, and paying strict attention to the medications prescribed for me. While the medications were the ones I had been taking for high blood pressure prior to being diagnosed with CKD, they worked in my favor.

This excerpt from The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK492989/ will explain why:

“The decision of whether to reduce blood pressure levels in someone who has chronic kidney disease will depend on

• how high their blood pressure is (when untreated),
• whether they have diabetes, and
• how much protein is in their urine (albumin level).

A person with normal blood pressure who doesn’t have diabetes and hardly has any albumin in their urine will be able to get by without using any blood-pressure-lowering medication. But people who have high blood pressure, diabetes or high levels of albumin in their urine are advised to have treatment with ACE inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors) or sartans (angiotensin receptor blockers). In people who have diabetes, blood-sugar-lowering medication is also important.”

When I was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early last month, it changed my medical priorities. With my nephrologist’s blessing, my primary focus was the cancer… not my kidneys. It took constant reminders to myself not to be so quick to say no to anything that I thought would harm my kidneys. In other words, to those things I’d been saying no to for the last 11 years.

For example, once diagnosed with CKD, I ate very little protein keeping to my five ounce daily limitation. Not anymore. Protein is needed to avoid muscle wasting during chemotherapy with a minimum requirement of eight ounces a day. I even tried roast beef and other red meats. After 11 years, they no longer agreed with me so I eat ground turkey, chicken, cheese, and am considering soy.

Another change: I preferred not to eat carbohydrates, but was warned not to lose weight if I could help it. All of a sudden I’m eating Goldfish, bread, and pasta. I can’t say that I’m enjoying them, but I am keeping my weight loss to a minimum. Other limitations like those on potassium and phosphorous have also gone by the wayside. I’ve eaten every childhood favorite, foods that I’ve avoided for the last 11 years, and anything that might look tempting in the last month, but none of them really taste that good. I like the foods on the renal diet now.

Oh, the only thing I have not increased is salt. My daughter takes me to my chemotherapy sessions. There’s a Jewish style restaurant across the street and we showed up early one day. I wanted to try a toasted bagel with butter, the way I ate it before CKD. The damned thing was salty! I hadn’t expected that.

Back to chemo and my kidneys. I admit it. I was nervous. What was this combination of poisons going to do to my kidneys? If it was so caustic that I had to have a port in place so that it wouldn’t be injected directly into my veins for fear of obliterating them, what about my kidneys?

I anxiously awaited my first Comprehensive Blood Panel, the blood test that includes your GFR. Oh, oh, oh! My kidney function had risen to 55 and my creatinine had lowered to 1.0. Let me explain just how good this was.

A GFR of 55 is the higher part of stage 3A. 60 is where stage 2 of CKD begins. My kidneys were functioning better on chemo. And the creatinine? Let’s get a quick definition of that first. According to The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/tests-diagnosis:

“Creatinine. Creatinine is a waste product from the normal breakdown of muscles in your body. Your kidneys remove creatinine from your blood. Providers use the amount of creatinine in your blood to estimate your GFR. As kidney disease gets worse, the level of creatinine goes up.”

Yet, mine went down. How? I asked and it was explained that all the hydration used to clear my veins of the caustic chemotherapy had worked this magic. I had two hours of hydration before the chemo-therapy  itself, two hours afterward, and another two hours the next day. My kidneys had never been this hydrated!

But wait, there’s more. I have diabetes. The pancreas is the organ that produces insulin. Could my diabetes be from the tumor blocking the production of insulin by my pancreas? I truly don’t know, but my glucose level is within the standard range for the first time since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes.

Would I recommend chemotherapy to raise your GFR, and lower your creatinine and your glucose level? Of course not. But I am feeling so very lucky that my kidneys are not coming to any harm during the chemotherapy necessary to save my life. I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

CKD and Me

Okay, so I was finally ready to give up World Kidney Day and National Kidney Month. Maybe it’s time to give up the 1in9 chapter contribution, too. Since each contributing author also had their biography accompanying their chapter, I think the best way to do that is to print the biography… although it’s all me, me, me. Indulge me, please.

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Ms. Rae-Garwood’s writing started out as a means to an end for a single parent with two children and a need for more income than her career as a NYC teacher afforded. Gail retired from both college teaching and acting – after a bit of soul searching about where her CKD limited energy would be best spent – early in 2013. Since her diagnose, Ms. Rae-Garwood writes most often about Chronic Kidney Disease, although she does write fiction. She has a three time award winning weekly blog (Surprise!) about this topic at https://gailraegarwood.wordpress.com and social media accounts as @SlowItDownCKD.

*****

Hmmm, it seems to me I’ve done a lot more with Chronic Kidney Disease awareness advocacy since I started with this in 2010. Let’s see what else there is. Aha! These are on my website at www.gail-raegarwood.com.

 

Arizona Health & Living  (West Valley)  6/2018

 

MyTherapy Guest Blog    3/8/18

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eCareDiary: Coping with Chronic Kidney  Disease  3/06/18

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NephJC: One More Patient Voice on CKD Staging and Precision Medicine  12/08/16

 

Center for Science in the Public Interest: Nutrition Action Healthletter   9/16

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New York State United Teachers: It’s What We Do   8/9/16

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American Kidney Fund: Slowing DownCKD – It Can Be Done   7/14/16

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The Edge Podcast  5/19/16

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Dear Annie   3/10/14

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Renal Diet Headquarters Podcast   2/12/14

 

Accountable Kidney Care Collaborative: Bob’s Blog   1/23/14

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Wall Street Journal: Patients Can Do More to Control Chronic Conditions  1/13/14

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The Neuropathy Doctor’s News   9/23/13

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Series of five Monthly CKD education classes in The Salt River Pima-Maricopa

Indian Community   9/12/13

 

KidneySteps: Gail Rae and SlowItDown  9/11/13

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Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community: 4th Annual Men and Women’s Gathering  8/29/13

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National Kidney Foundation: Staying Healthy  6/6/13

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KidneySteps: Learning Helps with CKD    7/04/12

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Life Options Links for Patients and Professionals   5/30/12

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It Is Just What It Is    3/9/12

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Online with Andrea    03/07/12

 

Working with Chronic Illness  2/17/12

 

Libre Tweet Chat with Gail Rae   1/10/12

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Kevinmd.com   1/1/12

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Improve Your Kidney Health with Dr. Rich Snyder, DO   11/21/11

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Glendale Community College Gaucho Gazette   8/22/11

 

The NephCure Foundation   8/21/11

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Authors Show Radio    8/8/11

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Renal Support Network: Another 30 Years  1/11/10

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Working with Chronic Illness: Are You Aching to Write    1/11/10

I’m going to keep today’s blog very short so you have the time to click though on the hyperlinked podcasts and articles. When I was teaching college, my students thoroughly enjoyed the time to choose what they’d like to hear or read from a prescribed list. I hope it’s the same for you.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

I’m Finally Ready to Let National Kidney Month Go

As you already know, I’ve been posting the chapter I contributed to the book 1in9 as my contribution to National Kidney Month. This will probably be the final post of that chapter, unless I decide to post the biography that goes along with the chapter at a later date.

Most of you are aware that I now have pancreatic cancer and the chemo effects are getting in my way. I’m hoping that I’ll not be feeling them so severely in the near future and will be able to research some new material for you. Right now, that’s just not possible. You may have noticed that my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages no longer contain original posts. That’s due to the same reason.

But let’s complete the book chapter:

When I was diagnosed back in 2008, there weren’t that many reader friendly books on anything having to do with CKD. Since then, more and more books of this type have been published. I’m laughing along with you, but I don’t mean just SlowItDownCKD 2011, SlowItDownCKD 2012 (These two were The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 1, until I realized how unwieldy both the book and the title were – another learning experience), SlowItDownCKD 2013, SlowItDownCKD 2014 (These two were formerly The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2), SlowItDownCKD 2015, SlowItDownCKD 2016, and SlowItDownCKD 2017. By the way, I’m already working on SlowItDownCKD 2018. Each book contains the blogs for that year.

I include guest blogs or book review blogs to get a taste of the currently available CKD news. For example, 1in9 guest blogged this year. Books such as Dr. Mandip S. Kang’s, The Doctor’s Kidney Diets (which also contains so much non-dietary information that we – as CKD patients – need to know), and Drs. Raymond R. Townsend and Debbie L. Cohen’s 100 Questions & Answers about Kidney Disease and Hypertension.

I miss my New York daughter and she misses me, so we sometimes have coffee together separately. She has a cup of coffee and I do at the same time. It’s not like being together in person, but it’s something. You can find support the same way via Facebook Chronic Kidney Disease Support Groups. Some of these groups are:

Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness

Chronic Kidney Disease in India

CKD (Kidney Failure) Support Group International

Dialysis & Kidney Disease

Friends Sharing Positive Chronic Kidney Disease

I Hate Dialysis

Kidney Disease Diet Ideas and Help

Kidney Disease Ideas and Diets1

Kidney Disease is not a Joke

Kidney Disease, Dialysis, and Transplant

Kidney Warriors Foundation

Kidneys and Vets

Mani Trust

Mark’s Private Kidney Disease Group

P2P

People on Dialysis

Sharing your Kidney Journey

Stage 3 ‘n 4 Kidneybeaners Gathering Place

The Transplant Community Outreach

UK Kidney Support

Women’s Renal Failure

Wrap Up Warm for Kidney Disease

What I hit over and over again in the blogs is that diabetes is the foremost cause of CKD with hypertension as the second most common cause. Simple blood and urine tests can uncover your CKD – if you’re part of the unlucky 96% of those in the early stages of the disease who don’t know they have it.

Each time I research, I’m newly amazed at how much there is to learn about CKD…and how many tools you have at your disposal to help slow it down. Diet is the obvious one. But if you smoke or drink, stop, or at least cut down. If you don’t exercise, start. Adequate, good quality sleep is another tool. Don’t underestimate rest either; you’re not being lazy when you rest, you’re preserving whatever kidney function you have left. I am not particularly a pill person, but if there’s a medication prescribed that will slow down the gradual decline of my kidney function, I’m all for it.

I was surprised to discover that writing my SlowItDownCKD book series, maintaining a blog, Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest accounts of the same name are not enough for me for me to spread the word about CKD screening and education. I’m determined to change this since I feel so strongly that NO ONE should have this disease and not be aware of it.

That’s why I’ve brought CKD awareness to every community that would have me: coffee shops, Kiwanis Clubs, independent bookstores, senior citizen centers, guest blogging for the likes of The American Kidney Fund and The National Kidney Foundation, being interviewed by publications like the Wall Street Journal’s Health Matters, The Center for Science in The Public Interest, and The United Federation of Teachers’ New York Teacher, and on podcasts such as The Renal Diet Headquarters, Online with Andrea, The Edge Podcast, Working with Chronic Illness, and Improve Your Kidney Health.

I’ve been very serious about sharing about CKD before it advances to end stage… meaning dialysis. To that end, I gathered a team for the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona Kidney Walk one year. Another year, I organized several meetings at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Education is vital since so many people are unaware they even have the disease.

You can slow down the progression of the decline of kidney function. I have been spending a lot of time on my health and I’m happy to say it’s been paying off. There are five stages. I’ve stayed at the middle one for over a decade despite having both high blood pressure and diabetes. That’s what this is about. People don’t know about CKD. They get diagnosed. They think they’re going to die. Everybody dies, but it doesn’t have to be of CKD. I am downright passionate about people knowing this.

Thanks for taking the time to finish the chapter. The more people who know about Chronic Kidney Disease, the more people can tell others about it. I’d hate for anyone to be part of the 90% of those with CKD who don’t know they have it.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

National Kidney Month Extended

The chapter I contributed to 1in9 goes on beyond National Kidney Month, so since I think every day should be World Kidney Day, I decided to just keep printing it until it was finished. Gotcha! Bet you thought I was going to write every month should be National Kidney Month. Although, that’s not a bad idea either. So, for those of you just tuning in, this is actually part three of that chapter. You can just scroll back on the blog to read the first two parts. Ready? Let’s go.

*****

I realized I needed to rest, too. Instead of giving a lecture, running to an audition, and coming home to meet a deadline, I slowly started easing off until I didn’t feel like I was running on empty all the time. The result was that I ended up graciously retiring from both acting and teaching at a local college, which gave me more time to work on my CKD awareness advocacy.

But, I had to be oh-so-vigilant with other medical practitioners. One summer I had four different infections and had to quickly research the medications prescribed in the emergency room. One hospital insisted I could take sulfa drugs because I was only stage 2 at the time. My nephrologist disagreed. They also prescribed a pain killer with acetaminophen in it, another no-no for us.  I didn’t return to them when I developed the other infections.

My experience demonstrates that you can slow down CKD. I was diagnosed at stage 3 and I am still there, over a decade later. It takes knowledge, commitment and discipline—but it can be done, and it’s worth the effort. I’m sneaking up on 72 now and know this is where I want to spend my energy for the rest of my life: chronic kidney disease awareness advocacy. I think it’s just that important.

At the time of my diagnosis, I was a college instructor. My favorite course to teach was Research Writing. I was also a writer with an Academic Certificate in Creative Non-Fiction and a bunch of publications under my belt. It occurred to me that I couldn’t be the only one who had no clue what this new-to-me disease was and how to handle living with it. I knew how to research and I knew how to write, so why not share what I learned?

I wasn’t sure of what had to be done to share or how to do it. I learned by trial and error. People were so kind in teaching me, pointing out what might work better, even suggesting others that might be interested in what I was doing. I love people. I’d written quite a few how to(s), study guides, articles, and literary guides so the writing was not new to me. I asked for suggestions as to what to do with my writing and that’s when I learned about unscrupulous, price gouging vanity publishers. I’m still paying for the unwitting mistakes I made, but they were learning experiences.

My less-than-stellar experience with being diagnosed and the first nephrologist are what prompted me to write What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease. Why, I wondered, should any new CKD patient be as terrified as I was? Of course, I constantly remind my readers that I’m not a doctor and they need to consult their nephrologists or renal dietitians before making any changes to their regiment.

I didn’t feel… well, done with sharing or researching once I finished the book so I began writing a weekly blog: SlowItDownCKD. Well, that and because a nephrologist in India told me he wanted his newly diagnosed patients to read my book, but most of them couldn’t afford the bus fare to the clinic, much less a book. I published each chapter as a blog post. The nephrologist translated my posts, printed them and distributed them to his patients—who took the printed copies back to their communities. It would work!

But first I had to teach myself how to blog. I made some boo-boos and lost a bunch of blogs until I got it figured out. So why do I keep blogging? There always seems to be more to share about CKD. Each week, I wonder what I’ll write… and the ideas keep coming. I now have readers in something like 106 different countries who ask me questions I hadn’t even thought of. I research for them and respond with a blog post, reminding them to speak with their nephrologists and/or renal nutritionists before taking any action… and that I’m not a doctor. The blog has won several awards. Basically, that’s because I write in a reader friendly manner. After all, what good is all my researching if no one understands what I’m writing?

Non-tech savvy readers asked if I could print the blogs; hence, the birth of the SlowItDownCKD series of books. Some people think SlowItDownCKD is a business; it’s not. Some think it’s a profit maker; it’s not. So, what is it you ask? It’s a vehicle for spreading awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease and whatever goes along with the disease. Why do I do it? Because I had no idea what it was, nor how I might have prevented the disease, nor how to deal with it effectively once I was diagnosed. I couldn’t stand the thought of others being in the same position.

One of my daughters taught me about social media. What???? You could post whatever you wanted to? And Facebook wasn’t the only way to reach the public at large? Hello, LinkedIn. A friend who is a professional photographer asked me why I wasn’t using my fun photography habit to promote awareness. What??? You could do that? Enter Instagram. My step-daughters love Pinterest. That got me to thinking and suddenly SlowItDownCKD had a Pinterest account. Then someone I met at a conference casually mentioned she offers Twitter workshops. What kind of workshops? She showed me how to use Twitter to raise CKD awareness.

*****

There’s more and you’ll get to read it next week. I hope you’re enjoying your look into how I entered the world of Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness Advocacy.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

To Continue…

National Kidney Month is just flying by. This is actually the last week and I doubt I’ll be able to post the rest of the 1in9 chapter before next month. But then again, it’s always Kidney Month for those of us with Chronic Kidney Disease. By the way, thank you to the reader who made it a point of telling me she can’t wait to read the rest of the chapter. Sooooo, let’s get started!

***

Nephrologist switch. The new one was much better for me. He explained again and again until I understood and he put up with a lot of verbal abuse when this panicky new patient wasn’t getting answers as quickly as she wanted them. Luckily for me, he graciously accepted my apology.

After talking to the nephrologist, I began to realize just how serious this disease was and started to wonder why my previous nurse practitioner had not caught this. When I asked her why, she responded, “It was inconclusive testing.” Sure it was. Because she never ordered the GFR tested; that had been incidental! I feel there’s no sense crying over spilled milk (or destroyed nephrons, in this case), but I wonder how much more of my kidney function I could have preserved if I’d known about my CKD earlier.

According to the Mayo Clinic, there are 13 early signs of chronic kidney disease. I never experienced any of them, not even one. While I did have high blood pressure, it wasn’t uncontrollable which is one of the early signs. Many, like me, never experienced any noticeable symptoms. Unfortunately, many, like me, may have had high blood pressure (hypertension) for years before CKD was diagnosed. Yet, high blood pressure and diabetes are the two leading causes of CKD. I find it confusing that uncontrollable high blood pressure may be an early sign of CKD, but hypertension itself is the second leading cause of CKD.

Here’s the part about my researching. I was so mystified about what was happening and why it was happening that I began an extensive course of research. My nephrologists did explain what everything meant (I think), but I was still too shocked to understand what they were saying. I researched diagnoses, descriptions of tests, test results, doctors’ reports, you name it. Slowly, it began to make sense, but that understanding only led to more questions and more research.

You’ve probably already guessed that my world changed during that first appointment. I began to excuse myself for rest periods each day when I went back East for a slew of family affairs right after. I counted food groups and calories at these celebrations that summer. And I used all the errand running associated with them as an excuse to speed walk wherever I went and back so I could fit in my exercise. Ah, but that was just the beginning.

My high blood pressure had been controlled for 20 years at that time, but what about my diet? I had no clue there was such a thing as a kidney diet until the nutritionist explained it to me. I’m a miller’s granddaughter and ate anything – and I do mean anything – with grain in it: breads, muffins, cakes, croissants, all of it. I also liked lots of chicken and fish… not the five ounces per day I’m limited to now.

The nutritionist explained to me how hard protein is on the kidneys… as is phosphorous… and potassium… and, of course, sodium. Out went my daily banana—too high in potassium. Out went restaurant burgers—larger than my daily allowance of protein. Chinese food? Pizza? Too high in sodium. I embraced an entirely new way of eating because it was one of the keys to keeping my kidneys functioning in stage 3.

I was in a new food world. I’d already known about restricting sodium because I had high blood pressure, but these other things? I had to keep a list of which foods contain them, how much was in each of these foods, and a running list of how much of each I had during the day so I knew when I reached my limit for that day.

Another critical piece of slowing down CKD is medication. I was already taking meds to lower my blood pressure when I was first diagnosed with CKD. Two more prescriptions have been added to this in the last decade: a diuretic that lowers my body’s absorption of salt to help prevent fluid from building up in my body (edema), and a drug that widens the blood vessels by relaxing them. I take another drug for my brand new diabetes. (Bye-bye, sugars and most carbs.) The funny thing is now my favorite food is salad with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I never thought that would happen: I was a chocoholic!

Exercise, something I loved until my arthritis got in the way, was also important. I was a dancer. Wasn’t that enough? Uh-uh, I had to learn about cardio and strength training exercise, too. It was no longer acceptable to be pleasantly plumb. My kidneys didn’t need the extra work. Hello to weights, walking, and a stationary bike. I think I took sleep for granted before CKD, too, and I now make it a point to get a good night’s sleep. A sleep apnea device improved my sleep—and my kidney function rose.

I realized I needed to rest, too. Instead of giving a lecture, running to an audition, and coming home to meet a deadline, I slowly started easing off until I didn’t feel like I was running on empty all the time. The result was that I ended up graciously retiring from both acting and teaching at a local college, which gave me more time to work on my CKD awareness advocacy.

***

There’s so much more to tell you about my personal CKD journey… and you’ll read more of it next week. Although, I should remind you that the entire book is available in print and digital on both Amazon.com and B&N.com, just as the entire SlowItDownCKD series of books is.

Until next week,
Keep living your life!

World Kidney Day, 2019

Will you look at that? The world keeps moving on no matter what’s going on in our personal lives. And so, I recognize that Thursday of this week is World Kidney Day. In honor of this occasion, I’ve chosen to update last year’s World Kidney Day blog… so sit back and enjoy the read.

…World Kidney Day? What’s that? I discovered this is a fairly new designation. It was only thirteen years ago that it was initiated.

 

According to http://worldkidneyday.org,

“World Kidney Day is a global awareness campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of our kidneys.”

Sound familiar?  That’s where I’m heading with What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease; SlowItDownCKD 2011; SlowItDownCKD 2012; SlowItDownCKD 2013; SlowItDownCKD 2014; SlowItDownCKD 2015; SlowItDownCKD 2016; SlowItDownCKD 2017; Facebook; Instagram; LinkedIn; Pinterest; Twitter; and this blog. We may be running along different tracks, but we’re headed in the same direction.

The 59 year old International Society of Nephrology (ISN) – a non-profit group spreading over 155 countries – is one part of the equation for their success.  Another is the International Federation of Kidney Foundations with membership in over 40 countries. Add a steering committee and The World Kidney Day Team and you have the makings of this particular concept….

According to their website at https://www.theisn.org/advocacy/world-kidney-day :

“The mission of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

Objectives:

• Raise awareness about our ‘amazing kidneys’
• Highlight that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
• Encourage systematic screening of all patients with diabetes and hypertension for CKD
• Encourage preventive behaviors
• Educate all medical professionals about their key role in detecting and reducing the risk of CKD, particularly in high risk populations
• Stress the important role of local and national health authorities in controlling the CKD epidemic.”

While there are numerous objectives for this year’s World Kidney Day, the one that lays closest to my heart is this one: ‘Encourage systematic screening of all patients with diabetes and hypertension for CKD.’

Back to World Kidney Day’s website at https://www.worldkidneyday.org  now, if you please.

This year’s theme is Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere.

Their site offers materials and ideas for events as well as a map of global events. Prepare to be awed at how wide spread World Kidney Day events are.

Before you leave their page, take a detour to Kidney FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the toolbar at the top of the page.  You can learn everything you need to know from what the kidneys do to what the symptoms (or lack thereof) of CKD are, from how to treat CKD to a toolbox full of helpful education about your kidneys to preventative measures.

If only my nurse practitioner had been aware of National Kidney Month or World Kidney Day, she could have warned me immediately that I needed to make lifestyle changes so the decline of my kidney function could have been slowed down earlier. How much more of my kidney function would I still have if I’d known earlier? That was a dozen years ago. This shouldn’t still be happening… but it is.

I received a phone call a few years ago that just about broke my heart.  Someone very dear to me sobbed, “He’s dying.” When I calmed her down, she explained a parent was sent to a nephrologist who told him he has end stage renal disease and needed dialysis or transplantation immediately.

I pried a little trying to get her to admit he’d been diagnosed before end stage, but she simply didn’t know what I was talking about. There had been no diagnose of Chronic Kidney Disease up to this point. There was diabetes, apparently out of control diabetes, but no one impressed upon this man that diabetes is the foremost cause of CKD.

What a waste of the precious time he could have had to do more than stop smoking, which he did (to his credit), the moment he was told it would help with the diabetes.  Would he be where he was then if his medical practitioners had been aware of National Kidney Month or World Kidney Day, especially since this man was high risk due to his age and diabetes?  I fervently believe so.

I have a close friend who was involved in the local senior center where she lives.  She said she didn’t know anyone else but me who had this disease.  Since 1 out of every 7 people does nationally (That’s 15% of the adult population) and being over 60 places you in a high risk group, I wonder how many of her friends were included in the 96% of those in the early stage of CKD who don’t know they have CKD or don’t even know they need to be tested.  I’d have rather been mistaken here, but I’m afraid I wasn’t. National Kidney Month or World Kidney Day could have helped them become aware.

For those of you who have forgotten (Easily read explanations of what results of the different items on your tests mean are in What Is It And How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease.), all it takes is a blood test and a urine test to detect CKD.  I have routine blood tests every three months to monitor a medication I’m taking.  It was in this test, a test I took anyway, that my family physician uncovered Chronic Kidney Disease as a problem.

There is so much free education about CKD online. Maybe you can start with the blogroll on the right side of the blog or hit “Apps” on the Topics Dropdown. None of us needs to hear another sorrowful, “If only I had known!”

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

National Kidney Month, 2019

Anyone remember LOL? It’s older internet shorthand for Laughing Out Loud. That’s what I’m doing right now. Why? Because, after all these years of blogging, I’ve just realized that I compose my opening paragraph as I’m waking up. Still in bed, mind you. Still half asleep. Isn’t the brain wonderful?

This is my half asleep composition for this morning: March is National Kidney Month. That’s not to be confused with March 14^th, which is World Kidney Day. So, today, we address the nation. Next week, the world.

As usual, let’s start at the beginning. What is National Kidney Month? Personalized Cause at https://www.personalizedcause.com/health-awareness-cause-calendar/national-kidney-month has a succinct explanation for us. By the way, while I’m not endorsing them since the site is new to me, I should let you know they sell the green ribbons for National Kidney Month that you’ll probably be seeing hither and yon all month.

“National Kidney Month, observed in March and sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation, is a time to increase awareness of kidney disease, promote the need for a cure, and spur advocacy on behalf of those suffeing (sic) with the emotional, financial and physical burden of kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation is the leading organization in the U.S. dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease for hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals, millions of patients and their families, and tens of millions of Americans at risk.” That, of course, prompted me to go directly to the National Kidney Foundation’s information about National Kidney Month at https://www.kidney.org/news/monthly/Focus_KidneyMonth.

“Focus on the Kidneys During National Kidney Month in March

March is National Kidney Month and the NKF is urging all Americans to give their kidneys a second thought and a well-deserved checkup. Kidneys filter 200 liters of blood a day, help regulate blood pressure and direct red blood cell production. But they are also prone to disease; 1 in 3 Americans is at risk for kidney disease due to diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of kidney failure. There are more than 30 million Americans who already have kidney disease, and most don’t know it because there are often no symptoms until the disease has progressed. During National Kidney Month in March, and in honor of World Kidney Day on March 14, the NKF offers the following health activities to promote awareness of kidneys, risk factors and kidney disease:

• Free Screenings: On World Kidney Day and throughout the Month of March, NKF is offering free screenings to those most at risk for kidney disease – anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of kidney failure. Locations and information can be found on the calendar on our website.
• ‘Are You at Risk’ Kidney Quiz: Early detection can make a difference in preventing kidney disease so it’s important to know if you’re at risk. Take the online kidney quiz!
• Live Twitter Chat with Dr. Joseph Vassalotti: The National Kidney Foundation’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joseph Vassalotti, will be hosting an interactive kidney Q&A on World Kidney Day, Thursday, March 14, from 12-2 pm ET. Ask your questions at www.twitter.com/nkf using the hash-tag #WorldKidneyDayNKF.”

Wow, so much going on. This is also the month of kidney walks, like the one my daughter Nima participated in on the East Coast in my honor, or the one for which I organized a team several years ago. Actually, it’s the month specifically for anything and everything that will raise awareness of kidney disease. I’ve mentioned that I contributed a chapter to the book 1in9, which is about kidney disease. You’re right. The book launch is this month, March 6^th to be specific.

The American Kidney Fund at http://www.kidneyfund.org/take-the-pledge/ is also taking part in National Kidney Month. They have a form to fill out to take a pledge to fight kidney disease.  I signed up; you can, too, if you’d like to. I’m not comfortable with the word “fight,” but I’m not going to let that stop me from spreading awareness of the disease. I wanted to share this quote from the AKF with you, both as a CKD awareness advocate and a woman:

“‘Kidney disease is a silent killer that disproportionately affects women who are often the primary caregivers for loved ones with the disease, are more likely to become living donors but less likely to receive a transplant, and are at higher risk for CKD,’ said LaVarne A. Burton, president and chief executive officer of AKF. ‘Because women with kidney disease may also face other health issues, including infertility, pregnancy complications, bone disease and depression, AKF is using Kidney Month to let women know we are here to support them and to provide resources that will answer their questions and concerns.’”

The Renal Support Network at https://www.rsnhope.org/ is working even more emphatically to spread kidney disease awareness this month, too:

“March is National Kidney Month. This is a special time set aside to raise awareness about kidney health and activities. RSN invites members of the kidney community, our friends and our families to join in the conversation.”

This on top of their usual. For those that are not familiar with this group, the following statement is from their website.

“Since 1993 RSN has created and continues to produce a vast collection of information about kidney disease. Feel free to share our National Kidney Month page, a favorite story, KidneyTalk™ show or awareness image on social media using the hashtag #KidneyMonth and be sure to tag us @RSNhope.”

DaVita Kidney Care at https://www.davita.com/education/resources offers many resources (as the website’s title assures us) to help understand both CKD and dialysis. Some of their offerings are:

• “Organizations and Programs
• Education
• Advice & Inspiration
• Recipes & Nutrition
• Specific Kidney Diseases
• Resources 
• Health Related Portals”

If you click through on the link offered above, each item will open on a new page.

As for me, I’ll blog my brains out until more and more people are aware of kidney disease. Same goes for the Instagram, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn accounts. It’s all about kidney disease.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

A long time reader mentioned she had a kind of kidney disease I wasn’t familiar with, so I decided to find out what I could about it. Are you aware of Uromodulin Kidney Disease?

This is what the U.S. National Library of Medicine at https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/uromodulin-associated-kidney-disease had to say:

“Uromodulin-associated kidney disease is an inherited condition that affects the kidneys. The signs and symptoms of this condition vary, even among members of the same family.

Many individuals with uromodulin-associated kidney disease develop high blood levels of a waste product called uric acid. Normally, the kidneys remove uric acid from the blood and transfer it to urine. In this condition, the kidneys are unable to remove uric acid from the blood effectively. A buildup of uric acid can cause gout, which is a form of arthritis resulting from uric acid crystals in the joints. The signs and symptoms of gout may appear as early as a person’s teens in uromodulin-associated kidney disease.

Uromodulin-associated kidney disease causes slowly progressive kidney disease, with the signs and symptoms usually beginning during the teenage years. The kidneys become less able to filter fluids and waste products from the body as this condition progresses, resulting in kidney failure. Individuals with uromodulin-associated kidney disease typically require either dialysis to remove wastes from the blood or a kidney transplant between the ages of 30 and 70. Occasionally, affected individuals are found to have small kidneys or kidney cysts (medullary cysts).”

Since this is inherited, I suspect the only way to prevent it is gene editing. I researched gene editing a bit but discovered there is quite a bit of controversy as to the legal and ethical aspects of this procedure right now. However, this doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.

The only other information I could find was far too technical for this lay person to understand, much less explain. Readers, do you have more information?

Something else that was new to me this week: pitaya or dragon fruit. I always buy myself a birthday present and this was mine for this year. By the way, thank you to all the readers who took the time to wish me well on my 72^nd yesterday. Back to pitaya.

According to Healthline (Thank you again for the two awards.) at https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dragon-fruit#what-it-is, pitaya is:

“Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit native to Mexico and Central America. Its taste is like a combination of a kiwi and a pear…. Dragon fruit is a low-calorie fruit that is high in fiber and provides a good amount of several vitamins and minerals…. Dragon fruit contains several antioxidants that protect your cells from damage. These include betalains, hydroxycinnamates, and flavonoids…. Animal studies suggest that dragon fruit may improve insulin resistance, liver fat, and heart health. However, the results of human studies are inconsistent…. To date, there have been two reported cases of a severe allergic reaction to dragon fruit.”

I like that it contains less sugar and calories than other tropical fruits, but I didn’t find the taste appealing. It was bland with just a hint of a woody aftertaste. Was it too ripe? Not ripe enough? Surprisingly, my Utah raised son-in-law loves it and jumped at the chance to finish mine.

I ran into what might have been more new information this past week when the P.A. taking my husband’s blood pressure used a wrist monitor on his right wrist. I was always told an arm cuff monitor was better because the pressure was only taken through one bone, whereas there are two in the wrist. I was also told that the left arm was best because it was closer to the heart. This advice was from my PCP’s nurse and that of my nephrologist. However, this P.A. insisted the wrist monitor measures atomic movement of the blood so it didn’t matter whether a wrist or arm cuff were used, nor which arm was used. It didn’t sound right to me.

This is from SlowItDownCKD 2014 and may be helpful here:

“Well, what about the different kinds of blood pressure monitors? I use a wrist monitor which my PCP is simply not thrilled with.  Her feeling is that I’m taking my pressure through two bones, the radius and the ulna, as opposed to only one bone, the humerus, with an arm device. There’s also the finger monitor, but that could be a problem if you have thin or cold fingers.

There are manual and battery operated versions of these monitors.  If you use an arm monitor, be aware that larger cuffs are available if needed. The one thing most blood pressure sites agree upon is that it’s not a good idea to rely on drugstore monitors for your readings.”

I have been researching for over two hours. I cannot find anything about atomic movement within the blood being measured by a blood pressure monitor of any kind. I’ve been to professional pages, checked studies, and even looked at advertisements. So, unless you have other information, I do believe I’ve been had. I just can’t wait to meet this young man at the follow up appointment in two weeks when I’ll ask him for resources and the monitor manufacturers’ information.

On another note, I’ve written about KDIGO during the last two years. This is from SlowItDownCKD 2017 and was repeated in the Sept. 17^th blog in 2018.

“This stands for KIDNEY DISEASE | IMPROVING GLOBAL OUTCOMES. Their homepage at KDIGO.org states:

‘KDIGO MISSION – Improving the care and outcomes of kidney disease patients worldwide through the development and implementation of global clinical practice guidelines.’”

So why mention it again, you ask? Well, you know how I’m always saying I’m not a doctor and neither are you, but doctors need to know what we, as kidney patients, need to say? KDIGO is now inviting patients – including those with CKD – to join their patient network. What better way to be heard as a kidney patient? I joined and I hope you will, too. The link to join is:

https://sydneypublichealth.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_72LdurS2QicQFKd.

This is the announcement the Dr. Joel Topf (on Twitter as @kidney_boy) brought to my attention:

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

At the Heart of the Matter

Happy New Year! Here’s wishing you all a very healthy one. I, on the other hand, found myself in the cardiologist’s office the very first week of 2019. That was odd for me.

It all started when I asked my very thorough primary care physician what – if anything – it meant that my blood pressure reading was ten points higher in one arm than the other. By the way, she’s the one that suggested I take my blood pressure on a daily basis. Her nurse always used the left arm to take the reading, so I did too. Then I got curious about what the reading on the other arm would be and how much difference there would be between arms. I expected a point or two, not ten.

Although my readings had always been a bit high, they weren’t high enough to warrant extra attention… until I mentioned the ten point difference to my PCP. BAM! I had an appointment with the cardiologist.

This information in last year’s April 23’s blog will explain why:

“We know that hypertension is the number two cause of CKD. Moderating our blood pressure will (hopefully) slow down the progression of the decline of our kidney function. Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc. at http://www.kidneyurology.org/Library/Kidney_Health/High_Blood_Pressure_and_Kidney_Disease.php explains this succinctly:

‘High blood pressure makes your heart work harder and, over time, can damage blood vessels throughout your body. If the blood vessels in your kidneys are damaged, they may stop removing wastes and extra fluid from your body. The extra fluid in your blood vessels may then raise blood pressure even more. It’s a dangerous cycle.’

And heart rate? The conclusion of a study published in the Journal of Nephrology reads:

‘Heart rate is an independent age-dependent effect modifier for progression to kidney failure in CKD patients.’

You can read the entire study at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232714804_Heart_rate

So we know that blood pressure and heart rate are important for Chronic Kidney Disease patients. Just in case you’ve forgotten, heart rate is a synonym for pulse which is the number of times your heart beats a minute.

MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=154135 offers more about what the difference between readings from both arms MAY mean:

“People whose systolic blood pressure — the upper number in their reading — is different in their left and right arms may be suffering from a vascular disease that could increase their risk of death, British researchers report.

The arteries under the collarbone supply blood to the arms, legs and brain. Blockage can lead to stroke and other problems, the researchers noted, and measuring blood pressure in both arms should be routine.

‘This is an important [finding] for the general public and for primary care doctors,’ said Dr. William O’Neill, a professor of cardiology and executive dean of clinical affairs at the University of Miami Miller School Of Medicine.

‘Traditionally, most people just check blood pressure in one arm, but if there is a difference, then one of the arteries has disease in it,’ he said.

The arteries that run under the collarbone can get blocked, especially in smokers and diabetics, he noted. ‘If one artery is more blocked than the other, then there is a difference in blood pressure in the arms,’ O’Neill explained.

‘Doctors should, for adults — especially adult smokers and diabetics — at some point check the blood pressure in both arms,’ he said. ‘If there is a difference it should be looked into further.’

The report appears in the Jan. 30 online edition of The Lancet. ”

Notice I capitalized may. That’s because, in my case, there apparently was no blockage. My cardiologist had a different view of things. He felt there wasn’t a problem unless the difference in readings between your two arms is more than 20 points and that your blood pressure would have to be much higher than my slightly elevated blood pressure before this could be considered a problem.

He made note of my diabetes and congratulated me for taking such good care of myself, especially since I’m a caretaker. I must have looked puzzled because he went on to explain that caretakers sometimes have a sort of martyr complex and are convinced they cannot take the time away from the person they’re caring for to care for themselves. And, yes, he did use the oxygen masks in an airplane analogy to point out how important it is for caretakers to care for themselves first.

Now that I’ve wandered on to the subject of caretakers, seemingly continuing the thread from last week’s blog, here’s a health screening from Path to Wellness that may interest you if you live in Arizona. I urge you to take part yourself and bring anyone you think may be affected or has someone in their lives that may have CKD.

What: The National Kidney Foundation of Arizona will host a FREE health screening, aiming to identify chronic diseases in their early stages in those at highest risk.

When: Saturday, January 26, 2019, 8:30am- 12:00pm (appointments highly recommended**)

Where: Betty Fairfax High School (8225 S. 59th Ave., Laveen, AZ 85339)

Individuals who are 18 years or older and have a family member with diabetes, high blood pressure or chronic kidney disease, OR have high blood pressure or diabetes themselves are urged to attend this important event. Early detection means the possibility of preventing further, life-risking damage to the kidneys.

**Appointments may be scheduled by calling the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona at (602) 840-1644 (English) or (602) 845-7905 / (602)845-7912 (Spanish).

OR

Visit https://azkidney.org/pathtowellness and register online!

This medical screening includes immediate onsite results and medical education and is provided at absolutely no cost. The event is staffed with medical professionals, with the ability to screen 200 attendees.

About Path to Wellness: The Path to Wellness program is the product of a community collaboration between the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona and Cardio Renal Society of America. This January screening is provided in partnership with Adelante Healthcare and the Phoenix Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Sorority, Inc., and generously funded by the BHHS Legacy Foundation. Path to Wellness screenings are unique in that they try to target areas of cities where the high demographics of under-insured or at-risk individuals may have an opportunity to detect chronic health problems early on, in a cost-free environment. The screenings also offer the unique advantage of both on-site results, and post-screening education on chronic disease management.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

A Different Kind of Fatigue

Busy with the holidays? Chanukah has passed, but we still have Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the New Year coming up. Feeling like you’re just too tired to deal with them? Maybe even fatigued? What’s the difference, you ask. Let’s go to Reuters at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fatigued-tired-s-idUSCOL75594120070207 for the answer:

“’People who are tired,’ Olson [Dr. Karin Olson, with the faculty of nursing at the University of Alberta] explained, ‘still have a fair bit of energy but are apt to feel forgetful and impatient and experience muscle weakness following work, which is often alleviated by rest.

People who are fatigued, on the other hand, experience difficulty concentrating, anxiety, a gradual decrease in stamina, difficulty sleeping, and increased sensitivity to light. They also may skip social engagements once viewed as important to them.’”

Got it. When I was describing how tired I was to another caretaker, her suggestion was to have my adrenals checked. Hmmm, what does that have to do with Chronic Kidney Disease I wondered. Let’s find out.

First of all, what and where are the adrenals? As I reported in SlowItDownCKD 2016,

“According to Reference.com, a new site for me at https://www.reference.com/science/function-adrenal-gland-72cba864e66d8278:

“Adrenal glands are triangular-shaped, measure approximately 1.5 inches high and 3 inches long and are composed of two parts, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. The outer part is the adrenal cortex, which creates cortisol, aldosterone and androgen hormones. The second part is the adrenal medulla, which creates noradrenaline and adrenaline.

Cortisol is a hormone that controls metabolism and helps the body react to stress, according to Endocrineweb. It affects the immune system and lowers inflammatory responses in the body. Aldosterone helps regulate sodium and potassium levels, blood volume and blood pressure. Androgen hormones are steroid hormones that are converted to female or male hormones in other parts of the body.

Noradrenaline helps regulate blood pressure, increasing it during times of stress, notes Endocrineweb. Adrenaline is often associated with the adrenal glands, and it increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles and the brain.”

Okay then, is adrenal fatigue exactly what it sounds like? According to Dr. James L. Wilson at http://adrenalfatigue.org/what-is-adrenal-fatigue/:

“Adrenal fatigue is a collection of signs and symptoms, known as a syndrome, that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. As the name suggests, its paramount symptom is fatigue that is not relieved by sleep but it is not a readily identifiable entity like measles or a growth on the end of your finger.

You may look and act relatively normal with adrenal fatigue and may not have any obvious signs of physical illness, yet you live with a general sense of unwellness, tiredness or ‘gray’ feelings. People experiencing adrenal fatigue often have to use coffee, colas and other stimulants to get going in the morning and to prop themselves up during the day.”

I still wanted to know what the connection to CKD was. LiveStrong at https://www.livestrong.com/article/139350-adrenal-glands-kidneys/ had the following to say about the connection:

“Blood Pressure

The adrenals and kidneys also work together to regulate blood pressure. The kidneys make renin, which is a chemical messenger to the adrenals. The renin put out by the kidneys signals the adrenals to make three hormones: angiotensin I, angiotensin II and aldosterone. These hormones regulate fluid volumes, vascular tension and sodium levels, all of which affect blood pressure.

Prednisone

Many kidney patients take prednisone to minimize the amount of protein spilled into the urine by the kidneys. Prednisone also has a powerful effect on the adrenal glands.

Prednisone acts as a corticosteroid, just like the ones produced by the adrenals. When patients take prednisone, the adrenals cease producing corticosteroids. When patients stop taking prednisone, they gradually taper the dosage down to give the adrenal glands the opportunity to ‘wake up’ and start producing corticosteroids again”.

I don’t take prednisone and my blood pressure is under control via medication. Where does this leave me… or you if you’re in the same situation?

I went to WebMD at https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/adrenal-fatigue-is-it-real#1 for more information.

“Your body’s immune system responds by slowing down when you’re under stress. Your adrenal glands, which are small organs above your kidneys, respond to stress by releasing hormones like cortisol. They regulate your blood pressure and how your heart works.

According to the theory, if you have long-term stress (like the death of a family member or a serious illness), your adrenal glands can’t continuously produce the extra cortisol you need to feel good. So adrenal fatigue sets in.”

This makes sense to me, although adrenal fatigue is not accepted by the Endocrine Society as a diagnose and there are warnings that accepting it as one may mask another problem (read disease) with the same symptoms. I am a caretaker as well as a CKD patient. I am under constant stress even when I’m sleeping. You’ve heard of sleeping with one eye open? I sleep with one ear open, but I do sleep so I can rule out tiredness.

While writing this blog has helped me understand what adrenal fatigue is and how it might affect me, I’m still going to keep my cardiology appointment to explore why my blood pressure is often ten points higher in one arm than another. That’s also a possible heart problem. Maybe adrenal fatigue is affecting how my heart is working … or maybe it’s a blockage somewhere. Why take a chance?

In the meantime, I intend to partake of as many of those holiday party invitations as I can. I can always come home early if I have to or I can rest before they start. Here’s hoping you do the same whether or not you think you have adrenal fatigue.

Oh, there’s still plenty of time to order any of my books on Amazon.com or B&N.com in time for the remaining holidays. There are links to the right of the blog for the kidney books. Click on these links for the fiction: Portal in Time and Sort of Dark Places.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Happy Holidays!

The holiday season is upon us full strength right now, but you have Chronic Kidney Disease. You don’t need the stress associated with the holiday season. The National Kidney Fund at https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/Stress_and_your_Kidneys explains why:

“As the blood filtering units of your body, your kidneys are prone to problems with blood circulation and blood vessels. High blood pressure and high blood sugar can place an additional strain or burden on your kidneys. People with high blood pressure and diabetes are at a higher risk for kidney disease. People with kidney disease are at higher risk for heart and blood vessel disease. If you already have heart and blood vessel disease and kidney disease, then the body’s reactions to stress can become more and more dangerous. Therefore, whether your goal is to prevent heart and/or kidney disease, or improve your health while living with heart and/or kidney disease, managing stress is an important part of maintaining your overall health.”

So what’s a CKD patient to do? First, you need to identify that you are stressed. In an article on caretaker stress at https://www.davita.com/education/ckd-life/caregiver/caregiver-stress-and-chronic-kidney-disease, DaVita outlined some of the symptoms. These are the same whether you’re the patient or the caretaker. I happen to be both a CKD patient and my Alzheimer’s husband’s caretaker, although we call me his care partner as suggested by the Alzheimer’s Association.

Physical signals

• Inability to sleep or sleeping too much
• Weight gain or loss
• Feeling tired all the time
• Change in posture—walking with your head down or with a stooped posture
• Chronic headaches, neck pain or back pain

Emotional signals

• Anger
• Frequent crying spells
• Inability to think clearly or concentrate
• Excessive mood swings
• Feelings of sadness that don’t go away

Behavioral signals

• Withdrawing from usual activities and relationships
• Quitting or changing jobs frequently
• Becoming more impulsive and over-reacting to things
• Using alcohol or drugs to feel better

Uh-oh, I recognize quite a few of these in myself. How about you?

Today is the last day of the eight day Chanukah celebration for us and all of you who celebrate this holiday. We usually throw a blowout party for anywhere from 30 to 50 people. But just a couple of months ago, we hosted a blowout pre-wedding potluck party for my daughter and her fiancé … and it was wonderful. Yet, it was clear that we can no longer handle undertaking such large parties. I had expressed my doubts last year about how long we’d be able to keep up the Chanukah party.

I was getting more and more stressed dealing with Bear’s medical issues and my own and then the party, so I did what I consider the logical thing to do, I delegated. We’ll still have the party, but a friend of my daughter’s will be hosting it. Instead of assigning different foods to specific guests, we’ve asked them to let us know what they’re be bringing. No prepping of the house (Shiloh sheds an entire other dog every few days) and no post party clean up. More importantly, no stress. I just bring the religious articles necessary and toss in a batch of cranberry chicken as my food contribution. Easy-peasy.

My very capable neighbor came in with cookies she’d just baked the other day. She knows about Bear’s sweet tooth. We started chatting as we’re wont to do and she brought up the point that she finds delegating stressful. Amy wants to make sure whatever it is that’s being delegated is done and done well, so she has to be careful about who she choices. I see her point, but I think that if you know your friends and family and how responsible (or not) each is, this shouldn’t be a problem.

But enough about me. What else can you do to reduce your stress at this time of year?

One thing is make sure you aren’t overeating. Avoiding comfort eating can be a real struggle. According to Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. Sreedhar Mandayam in an article at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-11-overeating-holidays-bad-kidneys.html,

“For people with kidney disease, even eating normal amounts of food puts stress on their kidneys. If you consume large amounts of carbohydrates, protein or fat the stress on an overworked, half functioning kidney will get even worse and can accelerate your kidney dysfunction.”

How about exercising? This is when I get on the exercise bike and watch a good movie. Why? The Mayo Clinic at  https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469 explains far better than I could:

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

• It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner’s high, a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
• It’s meditation in motion. After a fast-paced game of racquetball or several laps in the pool, you’ll often find that you’ve forgotten the day’s irritations and concentrated only on your body’s movements.

As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything you do.

• It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence, it can relax you, and it can lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety. All of these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.

 

Of course, you could give yourself permission to curl up with a good book for half an hour or so. You might like Portal in Time or Sort of Dark Places for sheer escapism or any of the SlowItDownCKD series (including What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease) for edifying yourself. Oh, the shameless self-promotion here! All are available on Amazon although,personally, if I’m stressed, I want pure escapism.

 

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Say That Again

I have been uttering that phrase for years, maybe even a decade. Each time I went for a hearing test, I was told I was getting there, but I didn’t need hearing aids yet. This year it changed. I’ll bet it’s because I have CKD.

This is from SlowItDownCKD  2011:

“Research shows that hearing loss is common in people with moderate Chronic Kidney Disease. As published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and highlighted on the National Kidney Foundation web site, a team of Australian researchers found that older adults with moderate Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) have a higher prevalence of hearing loss than those of the same age without CKD.”

How moderate CKD and hearing are connected is another matter, one that apparently isn’t as well documented. Here’s what I found on Timpanogos Hearing and Balance’s website at https://utahhearingaids.com/hearing-loss-likely-individuals-chronic-kidney-disease/ and the other sites I searched. This comes from the same Universtiy of Sydney study I cited in my 2011 blog.  A study that was completed in 2010… eight years ago.

“The link between hearing loss and CKD can be explained by structural and functional similarities between tissues in the inner ear and in the kidney. Additionally, toxins that accumulate in kidney failure can damage nerves, including those in the inner ear. Another reason for this connection is that kidney disease and hearing loss share common risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure and advanced age.”

Wait a minute. I wrote about this in SlowItDownCKD 2014, too:

“Suddenly it became clear. If toxins are – well – toxic to our bodies, that includes our ears. My old friend The Online Etymology Dictionary tells us the word toxic is derived directly from late Latin toxicus, which means ‘poisoned.’

Now I got it. Moderate CKD could be poisoning our bodies with a buildup of toxins. Our ears and the nerves in them are part of our body. Damaged nerves may cause hearing loss. I’d just never thought of it that way before. Sometimes all it takes is that one last piece of the puzzle to fall in place.

Hmmm. High blood pressure is the second most common leading cause of CKD and it can also lead to hearing loss. Let’s take a look at that.

According to WebMD

‘Certain illnesses, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, put ears at risk by interfering with the ears’ blood supply.’

I went right to What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease to figure out how since it includes a diagram from The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health that demonstrates how high blood pressure is caused… and if you read on, you’ll read about the problems high blood pressure causes….and this sentence:

‘Humans have 10 pints of blood that are pumped by the heart through the arteries to all the other parts of the bodies.’

That would include the ears. Moderate CKD might mean that blood is tainted by the toxins our compromised kidneys could not rid us of.”

I was frustrated at not finding any more recent research, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get… like now.

I thought of an online hearing test I’d heard (Ouch! Poor word choice there.) about and decided to give it a try since it asked questions rather than having you listen to sounds as you would in an audiologist’s office. Here are my results from the  Better Hearing Institute at http://www.betterhearing.org/check-your-hearing

“SUMMARY

 Your hearing loss would be described as: Mild Hearing Loss. A hearing test may be necessary to monitor your hearing loss.

DETAIL REPORT

 Your Check Score: You scored 21 out of a possible 60 points. The remainder of this report will tell you what your score means.

Your Check Norm: Your score of 21 is at the 19 percentile of people with hearing loss in the United States, where low percentages mean lower hearing losses and high percentages mean more serious hearing losses compared to other people with hearing loss….

Subjective Hearing Loss Description: Based on the responses of more than 10,000 people with hearing loss and their family members, they would describe your hearing loss as: Mild Hearing Loss.

What Your Hearing Loss Means for Your Quality of Life: Research has shown that the higher your predicted hearing loss, the more likely the following quality-of-life factors may be negatively affected:

• irritability, negativism and anger
• fatigue, tension, stress and depression
• avoidance or withdrawal from social situations
• social rejection and loneliness
• reduced alertness and increased risk of personal safety
• impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks
• reduced job performance and earning power
• diminished psychological and overall health

What should you do next? Based on your score, we recommend the following: A hearing test may be necessary to monitor your hearing loss. Now hearing loss is situational, and the next step you take is dependent on your need to hear in various listening situations. Some people can live with mild hearing losses. Others, such as teachers and therapists whose auditory skills are very important for their everyday work, require corrective technology — such as hearing aids — even when their hearing loss is at mild levels. It becomes important for them to do something about their hearing loss so they can function adequately in their work environment….

References:

To review the study this report is based on visit:
http://www.betterhearing.org/hearingpedia/bhi-archives/eguides/validity-and-reliability-bhi-quick-hearing-check

To review research on hearing loss and quality of life visit:
www.betterhearing.org/hearingpedia/counseling-articles-tips/impact-treated-hearing-loss-quality-life as well as the following publication conducted by the National Council on the Aging (NCOA):
Hearing Aids and Quality of Life”

My audiologist will be introducing me to hearing aids in the new year. I thought I had considered all the ramifications of CKD. And, frankly, I thought I understood what was happening to my kidneys. It looks like I did understand the loss of some kidney function… just not how that would affect the rest of my body.

I don’t know whether to break out the duct tape or the crazy glue to keep this aging body in one piece. Are you laughing? Good, because I wanted to have this Chanukah blog leave you in a good mood. I know, I’ll break out the dreidles in your honor. Happy Chanukah!

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Something New and Entirely Different

I sit here trying to write this week’s blog and being interrupted every five minutes by a long involved commentary about one thing or another. Why do I tolerate it? Because it’s Bear, my Bear, my husband who is interrupting. Why not just ask him not to, you say. Well, it’s involved. Basically, it’s because he has Alzheimer’s, doesn’t know how long winded he’s being, and feels terribly insulted when I ask him not to interrupt so I can write.

Sometimes, we can have a conversation without the interruptions and without the involved commentary. Obviously, not right now, but during one of these conversations, I explained to him that I had been asked to write about his Alzheimer’s but felt I needed to preserve his privacy. This good man blew that up. He said something to the effect that if it’s going to help even one person to know what he experiences, what I experience, with this disease, then I was obliged to write about it. His privacy wasn’t more important than that.

Now you have just an inkling of why I love him… and I do, Alzheimer’s or not. Since this is my kidney disease blog, it would make sense to look for any connections between Alzheimer’s and kidney disease. If they exist, that is.

I was not happy to find the following on The National Kidney Foundation’s page at https://www.kidney.org/news/ekidney/august08/Dementia_august08

“People with albuminuria were about 50% more likely to have dementia than people without albuminuria, Dr. Joshua I. Barzilay, at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and his research team report. The association between the two conditions was still strong after controlling for age, education and risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and cholesterol levels. There was a weaker relationship between albuminuria and mild cognitive impairment.”

By now it’s common knowledge to my readers that diabetes is the foremost cause of Chronic Kidney Disease with high blood pressure (hypertension) being the second.

How about some reminders right about now?

The American Diabetes Association at http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/common-terms/?loc defines the most common type of diabetes in the following manner:

“diabetes mellitus (MELL-ih-tus)
a condition characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from the body’s inability to use blood glucose for energy. In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin and therefore blood glucose cannot enter the cells to be used for energy. In Type 2 diabetes, either the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body is unable to use insulin correctly.”

As for high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, The National Library of Medicine PubMed Health was able to help us out:

“It happens when the force of the blood pumping through your arteries is too strong. When your heart beats, it pushes blood through your arteries to the rest of your body. When the blood pushes harder against the walls of your arteries, your blood pressure goes up.”

Keep this in mind for later. Here’s the definition of albumin from What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease:

Albumin: Water soluble protein in the blood.

As mentioned in SlowItDownCKD 2013, “according to the physicians’ journal BMJ: ‘albuminuria [is] leakage of large amounts of the protein albumin into the urine.’”

Many of us with CKD have albuminuria at one time or another. Does that mean that 50% of us are going to develop dementia? No, not at all. According to the National Kidney Foundation, that 50% of us with albuminuria are MORE LIKELY to develop dementia, not GOING TO.

I get it. By now, most of you are probably asking what Alzheimer’s has to do with dementia. I popped right over to the Alzheimer’s Association’s (my new best friend) website at https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers  for an explanation.

“Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks.”

I’ll bet you want a definition of dementia now. Let’s go to Healthline.com at https://www.healthline.com/health/dementia for one:

“Dementia is a decline in cognitive function. To be considered dementia, mental impairment must affect at least two brain functions. Dementia may affect:

• memory
• thinking
• language
• judgment
• behavior”

It’s not surprising that the two definitions look so much alike. Alzheimer’s is one of the ten kinds of dementia that I know about. Different websites have different numbers for how many different kinds of dementia there are. I used the information from MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/dementia/article.htm#what_are_alzheimers_vascular_and_frontotemporal_dementia

Did you keep the definition of albumin in mind? The key word in that is protein… and that’s where the connection between Alzheimer’s and CKD lies. The information is from an unusual source for me to use, Science Magazine at https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/alzheimer-s-protein-may-spread-infection-human-brain-scans-suggest:

 “Tau is one of two proteins—along with β-amyloid—that form unusual clumps in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have long debated which is most important to the condition and, thus, the best target for intervention. Tau deposits are found inside neurons, where they are thought to inhibit or kill them, whereas β-amyloid forms plaques outside brain cells.”

I realize this is getting very technical and may concentrate on particular elements of this connection in future blogs, but right now, I’d like to remind you that the National Kidney Fund is hosting a webinar “Eating healthy with diabetes and kidney disease” in recognition of National Diabetes Awareness Month on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST.

Again, diabetes… the number one cause of Chronic Kidney Disease. Read more about CKD, diabetes, and hypertension (as well as many other topics) in the SlowItDownCKD series and What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease. All eight books are available in print and digital on Amazon.com and B & N.com.

Did you know that the first day of Chanukah is December 3^rd? We start celebrating Chanukah the night before the first day and celebrate for eight nights… and there are eight books. What a coincidence! (Just planting a seed here, folks.)

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Shining a Light on 1in9

Last week, I began my blog post by mentioning that kidney disease awareness advocates have a habit of finding each other. This time, we had a little help.  I transferred to a new nephrologist because he was so much closer to my house. We spent some time getting to know each other as people new to each other do. Then he told me about another patient of his who is also working on spreading awareness, but via a documentary. Raymond, a transplant recipient that you’ll meet in a moment, and his brother who is also his donor, are both veterans. It made sense to me when his wife and partner on their documentary, Analyn Scott, suggested I post her guest blog about their project today since Veterans’ Day which was yesterday. Readers, meet Analyn; Analyn, meet the readers of the blog.

By now it shouldn’t surprise me that as I’m out and about I’m constantly meeting more and more people with a connection to kidney disease. That was not the case 21 years ago, or even four years ago for that matter. What changed? The opening of my eyes to statistics I was previously unaware of, and frankly I found to be quite shocking and unacceptable. I’ll get to those stats a little later.

21 years ago this month I met my now husband, Raymond Scott, on a blind date. A year out of the Army, here was this 29 year old handsome, kind, Southern gentlemen that swept me off my feet. Little did either of us know that three months later his kidneys would unexpectedly fail and that our journey would lead us to where we are today.

Like many others, although Raymond ‘crashed’ into dialysis, his previous medical records revealed that he had Kidney Disease, but he was not properly made aware of his status or what he could do to improve it. So our journey with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) began together with Raymond finding out he had End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and needing to start on dialysis right away.

Throughout the past 20, going on 21 years, Raymond has been on both peritoneal dialysis and in-center hemodialysis, had a kidney transplant that lasted for five years, and for the past five years has his hemodialysis treatments administered by me five days a week from the comforts of our home. With that, we’ve also had many twists and turns with Raymond’s health that often go along with ESRD. But, despite our own experiences, it wasn’t until we were invited as guests to attend the National Kidney Foundation’s Dancing With The Stars Arizona 2015 Gala that our eyes would start to be opened to the staggering statistics surrounding Kidney Disease.

As we enjoyed the lively and energetic dance performances I turned to Raymond and teasingly said, “Hey, that could be you dancing next year.” My eyes got big and my giggles stopped, and before I could get the words out of my mouth, Raymond already knew that look on my face very well and anticipated my next words, “Wait, why not you? You can do this!.”

Sure enough, Raymond was the first celebrity star dancer who was an active dialysis patient at the National Kidney Foundation’s 10th Annual Dancing With the Stars Arizona Gala on February 20th, 2016…..18 years to the exact day that his kidneys failed! He and his dance partner and instructor, Brianna Santiago, spent six months of grueling practices preparing for their energetic performance to Pharrell William’s song Happy, demonstrating the improved quality of life home dialysis can provide, and that dialysis does not have to be a death sentence.

As we picked up the torch of advocacy, we were led to start filming a documentary and create a non-profit organization to create hope and change the trajectory of kidney disease. As I was brainstorming with a dear friend about potential names for the organization, she said, “Wait, go back to that statistic you mentioned: 26 Million Americans, 1 in 9 adults have Kidney Disease….that’s it…..1in9.” That and meeting our incredible videographer was how 1in9 was birthed!

You may have guessed it, but 1 in 9 American adults having Kidney Disease was one of those stats that caught us off guard. And hearing that 90% of those with CKD weren’t aware was totally unacceptable to us. Diabetes is the leading cause of Kidney Disease, and high blood pressure….which took Raymond’s kidneys….is second. Kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S. and kills more people than breast cancer or prostate cancer. Surprising, right? It sure was to us, and we figured if this was news to us after all these years of living with it, then the general population must really be in the dark.

Our vision for 1in9 is to save millions of lives globally through awareness, prevention, and expedited research and development of regenerative medicine treatments and solutions. Last year our family headed out across country on an RV tour to raise awareness and film, while keeping up Raymond’s dialysis treatments five days a week on the RV. We met some incredible people near and far that continue to inspire us to keep pushing the wheels of change. Like our friends at…..

University of Arizona http://deptmedicine.arizona.edu/news/2017/1in9-kidney-challenge-founders-visit-ua-nephrology-faculty-researchers

Washington University https://nephrology.wustl.edu/1in9-kidney-awareness-documentary-visits-division-nephrology/

The Veterans’ Administration Medical Center in Washington DC https://www.washingtondc.va.gov/features/Living_Well_with_Kidney_Disease.asp

And our visit to UCSF with Dr. Shuvo Roy, co-Director of The Kidney Project, where we were able to hold the 3D printed bio-artificial kidney prototype in our own hands! Friends, if you haven’t already heard, change is not only on the way, it’s here!

We are still filming our documentary, releasing our 1in9 Compilation Book next March, and excited about other impactful programs we are launching that will help us bring Kidney Disease out of the public shadows of silence and misunderstanding and confront it head on with solutions.

To learn more and link arms to help keep the torch illuminating bright on our life saving mission please visit, follow, and/or contact us at: www.1in9kidneychallenge.com 
www.facebook.com/1in9kidneychallenge/ 1in9kidneychallenge@gmail.com

Analyn and Raymond have asked me to contribute a chapter to their book. I will be delighted to do so. As a Chronic Kidney Disease awareness advocate, I can’t begin to tell you how much pleasure I have at meeting more and more people with the same mission in life. We get to help each other spread awareness.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Dead People

Hmmm, maybe that title should read “Famous People Who Died from Kidney Disease.” Let’s go back a bit to see what I’m talking about. By now you know my youngest married on the 6^th of this month. Thank you to everyone who sent their best wishes. She and her husband did a wonderful job of creating the wedding they wanted, just as the new Mr. & Mrs. Nielson are doing a terrific job of creating the life they want together.

Of course, her sister came out from New York to join the festivities. As usual, she stayed with Bear and me. That gave us plenty of time to gab between the pre-wedding potluck at my house and all the preparations for the wedding. At one point, I casually mentioned to her that Jean Harlow died of kidney disease. That fascinated Nima for some reason. As I explained the how and why, she asked me why I hadn’t yet written a blog about famous people who died from kidney disease.

At first, I thought it a bit macabre but then I rethought that. My new thinking ran along the line of, “What a perfect blog for Halloween week.” By the way, that’s my brother’s birthday and there is nothing spooky about him. Oh, our preconceptions.

Back to Jean Harlow. For those of you who don’t know, she was not only an American film actress during the 1930s, but a sex symbol as well.

This is from the official Jean Harlow website at https://www.jeanharlow.com/about/biography/

“While filming Saratoga in 1937, Jean was hospitalized with uremic poisoning and kidney failure, a result of the scarlet fever she had suffered during childhood. In the days before dialysis and kidney transplants, nothing could be done and Jean died on June 7, 1937.”

A couple of reminders:

Uremic poisoning is what we now call uremia. This type of poisoning happens when the kidneys can’t filter your blood.

Kidney failure means your kidneys don’t work anymore. One of their jobs is to filter urea from your blood so that it doesn’t build up resulting in uremia.

As for the scarlet fever, “In general, appropriately diagnosed and treated scarlet fever results in few if any long-term effects. However, if complications develop for whatever reason, problems that include kidney damage, hepatitis, vasculitis, septicemia, congestive heart failure, and even death may occur.“ (Courtesy of MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/scarlet_fever_scarlatina/article.htm)

Dialysis was invented in 1943 by Dr. Willem Kolff. It wasn’t until the 1950s before it was perfected, but for Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) only. To make matters worse, few machines were available. Dr. Belding Scribner then developed a shunt to make dialysis effective for End Stage Renal Disease patients. In other words, not only those with short term kidney injuries, but also those whose kidneys were shutting down permanently. It wasn’t until 1962 that he opened the first outpatient dialysis unit. Later on, he developed the portable dialysis machines.

Keep those years in mind. Keep in mind also that there was no dialysis or transplantation when these people died of kidney disease.

You may remember the blog I wrote about the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He died of kidney failure back in 1792… way before dialysis or transplantation.

Transplantation? You’re right; I haven’t defined it yet. You cannot live without a functioning kidney unless you are on dialysis OR a new kidney – either from a cadaver or a life donor – is placed in your body. It is not a cure for kidney failure, but a treatment. Transplantees take anti-rejection medications for the rest of their lives.

Have you heard of Sarah Bernhardt? She was a French stage actress who died of kidney disease in 1923. She’d also been a silent screen actress, but reportedly didn’t care for film acting. Notice the year.

Emily Dickinson, the celebrated American poet died of Bright’s disease in 1886. (She was still alive during Portal of Time. I wonder if Jesse read her work?) Oh, you forgot what Bright’s disease is? No problem. New-Medical Net at https://www.news-medical.net/health/Brights-Disease-Kidney-Disease.aspx tells us it is “… a historical term that is not currently in use. It referred to a group of kidney diseases – in modern medicine, the condition is described as acute or chronic nephritis.”

It would make sense to define nephritis now. The suffix “itis” means inflammation of and “neph” refers to the kidneys. So, nephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys and can be due to a number of causes.

Let’s not forget the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. He moved to London at 20 years old and became a critic and political activist as well. You’ve heard of the play ‘My Fair Lady’? It was based on his ‘Pygmalion’. He died of kidney disease just before he might have been saved… in 1950.

I think the one who surprised me the most was Buffalo Bill Cody. He was not just the leader of his wild West show, but also a bison hunter, scout (as in finding the way for wagon trains), gold rush participant, possibly a Pony Express rider, and actor. He died in 1917 of kidney failure.

Other famous people who have died of kidney disease include Art Tatum, Color Porter, Douglas MacArthur, Alex Karras, Manute Bol, Ernest Borgnine, Don DeLuise, Art Buchwald, Norman Mailer, Sandra Dee, Barry White, Erma Bombeck, Marlene Dietrich, and Laurence Olivier.

This blog is not meant to scare the wits out of you. Well, maybe it is in a way. Famous people from all walks of life – athletes, writers, actors, musicians, singers, military members, and others – have died of kidney disease. Many before the invention of dialysis and transplantation. Some of kidney disease in combination of other diseases. And some because they didn’t know they had kidney disease.

My point? If you belong to any of the high risk groups for kidney disease, get yourself tested. We’re talking simple blood and urine tests here. The high risk groups are “diabetes, hypertension and a family history of kidney disease. African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Seniors.” Thank you to the National Kidney Center at http://www.nationalkidneycenter.org/chronic-kidney-disease/risk-factors/ for this list.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

How Does That Work Again?

I’ve had so many questions lately about how clinical trials work that when Antidote asked me if I’d consider including their infograph in a blog, I jumped at the chance. There’s even more information about clinical trials at https://www.antidote.me/what-are-clinical-trial-phases.

I’ve written about Antidote before… and I’ve written about clinical trials before. It seems more and more people are becoming interested in the process for a multitude of diseases, not only Chronic Kidney Disease.

As a newly diagnosed diabetes patient, I’ve noticed clinical trials for diabetes. A family member has Alzheimer’s; his neurologist keeps an eye out for clinical trials for him. Whatever your disease is, you can search for clinical trials.

While this is not everyone’s cup of tea, it is a chance to help others who may develop the same diseases in the future. Who knows, maybe the new treatment will be FDA approved during your own lifetime and help you with your own disease.

In case you are one of those people who have always wondered just what the FDA is, their website is https://www.fda.gov. That’s right: it’s a government site which is part of the U.S. Health and Human Services. What’s that? You’d like a more precise definition?

No problem. This is from the United States of American Government website at https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/food-and-drug-administration and offers basic information about the FDA.

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA also provides accurate, science-based health information to the public.

                                                                                                                                                      Agency Details

Acronym: FDA

Website: Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Contact: Contact the Food and Drug Administration

 Report a Problem with a Product

Main Address: 10903 New Hampshire Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20993

Toll Free: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)

Forms: Food and Drug Administration Forms

Government branch: Executive Department Sub-Office/Agency/Bureau

By the way, they are also responsible for both recalls and safety alerts for the treatments they’ve approved.

In the infograph above, you’ll notice, “Sometimes, only healthy volunteers participate.” in Phase 1. Should you decide to apply for a clinical trial, you need to keep this in mind to save yourself a bit of heartache. I firmly believe in paying back for the wonderful things in my life and have applied for several clinical trials for other diseases in an effort to do so. I must have missed the small print because I was rejected for having CKD.

I wanted to help eradicate or ameliorate whatever the disease was. Sometimes it was a disease that was ravaging a loved one. It was just a little bit of a heartbreak not to be able to do so.

As for Phase 2, I went to the blog’s site at gailraegarwood.wordpress.com to use the antidote widget at the bottom of the right side of the page. It’s the turquoise one. You can’t miss it. Face Palm! You can also go directly to www.antidote.me to search for clinical trials.

Why Antidote? It’s simply an easier way to find a clinical trial. This is from SlowItDownCKD 2017:

“Antidote Match™

Matching patients to trials in a completely new way
Antidote Match is the world’s smartest clinical trial matching tool, allowing patients to match to trials just by answering a few questions about their health.

Putting technology to work
We have taken on the massive job of structuring all publicly available clinical trial eligibility criteria so that it is machine-readable and searchable.

This means that for the first time, through a machine-learning algorithm that dynamically selects questions, patients can answer just a few questions to search through thousands of trials within a given therapeutic area in seconds and find one that’s right for them.

Patients receive trial information that is specific to their condition with clear contact information to get in touch with researchers.

Reaching patients where they are
Even the smartest search tool is only as good as the number of people who use it, so we’ve made our search tool available free of charge to patient communities, advocacy groups, and health portals. We’re proud to power clinical trial search on more than a hundred of these sites, reaching millions of patients per month where they are already looking for health information.

Translating scientific jargon
Our platform pulls information on all the trials listed on clinicaltrials.gov and presents it into a simple, patient-friendly design.

You (Gail here: this point is addressed to the ones conducting the clinical trial) then have the option to augment that content through our free tool, Antidote Bridge™, to include the details that are most important to patients – things like number of overnights, compensation, and procedures used. This additional information helps close the information gap between patients and researchers, which ultimately yields greater engagement with patients.

Here’s how Antidote Match works
1. Visit search engine → Patients visit either our website or one of the sites that host our search.
2. Enter condition → They enter the condition in which they’re interested, and begin answering the questions as they appear
3. Answer questions → As more questions are answered, the number of clinical trial matches reduces
4. Get in touch: When they’re ready, patients review their matches and can get in touch with the researchers running each study directly through our tool

Try it from the blog roll. I did. I was going to include my results, but realized they wouldn’t be helpful since my address, age, sex, diseases, and conditions may be different from everyone else’s. One caveat: search for Chronic Renal Insufficiency or Chronic Renal Failure (whichever applies to you) rather than Chronic Kidney Disease.”

Before I sign off, this came in from the American Association of Kidney Patients:

Please join us on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at 1 p.m. ET for an educational webinar on Making the Perfect Team: Working with Your Dialysis Technician in partnership with National Association of Nephrology Technicians/Technologists (NANT).  Keep in mind that’s tomorrow. Hit this link if you’d like to register https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7744206034004582403

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

For the Younger Women

You’d think that leaves me out, but you’d be wrong. I’m writing for pre-menopausal women…and for anyone who wants to know what menstrual cycles have to do with Chronic Kidney Disease. I’m one of those who wants to know.

I was already in my sixties when I was diagnosed with CKD, but I have many woman readers who have not yet reached that rite of passage known as menopause. Does their menses have any effect on their CKD, I wondered? Or, conversely, does their CKD have any effect on their menses?

Back to the beginning for those who have just plain forgotten what the menses is and why women experience it. Thank you to the Medical Dictionary at https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/menses for starting us off today. Menses is:

“the periodic discharge from the vagina of blood and tissues from a non-pregnant uterus; the culmination of the menstrual cycle. Menstruation occurs every 28 days or so between puberty and menopause, except during pregnancy, and the flow lasts about 5 days, the times varying from woman to woman.”

I clearly remember the days of anxiously awaiting my period only to find I had miscalculated its start. Commence the washing-out-the-underwear-nightly-during-my-period era which lasted decades. It was messy, but apparently menstruation was necessary. Why? you ask.

Back to Wikipedia. By the way, when I was teaching research writing in college, I always found this a good source to start researching from despite the fact that anyone can edit it. This is the explanation I was looking for. I found it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cycle.

“The menstrual cycle is the regular natural change that occurs in the female reproductive system (specifically the uterus and ovaries) that makes pregnancy possible. The cycle is required for the production of oocytes [Me here: this means an immature egg] and for the preparation of the uterus for pregnancy….”

As someone who had always planned to be a mother, you can see why I felt this was a necessary – albeit messy – function of my body. I have a biological grandchild and another being planned. Thank you, menstruation.

But what if I had developed CKD when I was premenopausal? Would things have been different for me? DaVita at https://www.davita.com/education/kidney-disease/risk-factors/womens-health-risks-and-chronic-kidney-disease-ckd explains some of what I might have had to deal with.

“When a woman has chronic kidney disease her periods tend to be irregular. Once she begins dialysis her periods may even stop altogether. As kidney function drops below 20 percent of normal, a woman is less likely to conceive because dialysis doesn’t perform all of the tasks of the kidneys. The body retains a higher level of waste products than it would with a normal kidney, which can prevent egg production and affect menstruation.

Erythropoietin treatments will cause about 50 percent of woman on dialysis to get their periods again. This is attributed to the improved hormone levels and the treatment of anemia. Therefore, erythropoietin treatments can increase a woman’s fertility, so birth control should be used if a woman is sexually active and does not want to become pregnant.”

Okay, but I’m not on dialysis and my GFR hovers in the 50-55% range. I see from the quote above that my periods might have become irregular. I also noted that a ‘higher level of waste products is being retained.” (Why does that give me the creeps?)

Let’s go back to those waste products. Remember what they are? Shodor, a site for undergraduate students, at https://www.shodor.org/master/biomed/physio/dialysis/kidney.htm was helpful here:

“The kidneys are the filtering devices of blood. The kidneys remove waste products from metabolism such as urea, uric acid, and creatinine by producing and secreting urine. Urine may also contain sulfate and phenol waste and excess sodium, potassium, and chloride ions. The kidneys help maintain homeostasis by regulating the concentration and volume of body fluids. For example, the amount of H⁺ and HCO₃ ^– secreted by the kidneys controls the body’s pH.”

Whoa! I wouldn’t want even more of these substances in my body. Not only would they make the CKD worse, but also its effects on my body. According to Medical News Today at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172179.php, these effects include:

• anemia
• blood in urine
• dark urine
• decreased mental alertness
• decreased urine output
• edema – swollen feet, hands, and ankles (face if edema is severe)
• fatigue (tiredness)
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• insomnia
• itchy skin, can become persistent
• loss of appetite
• male inability to get or maintain an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• more frequent urination, especially at night
• muscle cramps
• muscle twitches
• nausea
• pain on the side or mid to lower back
• panting (shortness of breath)
• protein in urine
• sudden change in bodyweight
• unexplained headaches

Is there anything else I should know?

The Huffington Post at https://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-spry-md-facp/women-with-chronic-kidney_b_10163148.html let Dr. Leslie Spry, Spokesman for the National Kidney Foundation, answer this one and I will, too.

“Women with CKD have been shown to commonly experience menstrual irregularities. This can include excessive bleeding, missed periods, and early onset of menopause. In studies of patients with CKD, women enter menopause from 3 to 5 years earlier than patients without CKD. Treatment can be very challenging. Studies of estrogen replacement therapy have shown an increased risk of heart disease and blood clotting disorders. Kidney transplantation will usually correct these abnormalities.”

Now I wonder if I’d had CKD even earlier than when I’d caught it on a lab report a decade ago. Excessive bleeding? Check. Early menopause? Check. Hmmm.

But wait. There’s some good news in here, too.

“’Thus, recurring changes of sex hormone levels, as brought about by the natural menstrual cycle, might be involved in periodic tissue remodeling not only in reproductive organs, but to a certain extent in the kidneys as well,’ she added.

Lechner [Me here: She’s the study author – Dr. Judith Lechner, of the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria] hypothesizes that estrogen might help to replace damaged cells. During cycle phases of high estrogen exposure, kidney cells might be induced to grow, she explained, ‘while at time points of decreasing estrogen levels damaged or simply older cells might be discarded into the urine.’”

You can read more about this small study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology in Medical Daily at https://www.medicaldaily.com/sex-differences-menstrual-cycle-kidney-failure-384251.

Now I know… and so do you. Younger women, your CKD menstrual future may not be as dismal as you’d thought.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Backed Up

Granted this is weird, but I have wondered for quite a while what – if anything – constipation has to do with Chronic Kidney Disease. Maybe my memory is faulty (Hello, brain fog, my old friend), but I don’t remember having this problem before CKD entered my life… or did I?

In my attempt to find out if there is a connection, I hit pay dirt on my first search.

“Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are more likely to develop in individuals with constipation than in those with normal bowel movements, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

More severe constipation, defined as using more than one laxative, was associated with increasing risks of CKD and its progression.”

You can read the entire Renal and Urology News article at https://www.renalandurologynews.com/chronic-kidney-disease-ckd/constipation-associated-with-ckd-esrd-risk/article/572659/.

Wait a minute. This is not quite as clear as I’d like it to be. For example, what exactly is constipation? The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/constipation was of help here:

“Constipation is a condition in which you may have fewer than three bowel movements a week; stools that are hard, dry, or lumpy; stools that are difficult or painful to pass; or a feeling that not all stool has passed. You usually can take steps to prevent or relieve constipation.”

Well then, what’s severe constipation? A new site for me, HealthCCM at https://health.ccm.net/faq/267-acute-constipation defines severe or acute constipation as,

“Acute constipation is usually defined by a slowing of intestinal transit generating a decrease in bowel movements and the appearance of dehydration. The person will have difficulty defecating or may not be able to at all.”

This sounds downright painful, so let’s go back to my original query about how constipation and CKD relate to each other.

But first I want to share this very clear explanation of how constipation happens from Everyday Health at https://www.everydayhealth.com/constipation/guide/.

“The GI tract, which consists of a series of hollow organs stretching from your mouth to your anus, is responsible for digestion, nutrient absorption, and waste removal.

In your lower GI tract, your large intestine, or bowel — which includes your colon and rectum — absorbs water from your digested food, changing it from a liquid to a solid (stool).

Constipation occurs when digested food spends too much time in your colon.

Your colon absorbs too much water, making your stool hard and dry — and difficult for your rectal muscles to push out of your body.”

Keep in mind that diabetes is the number one cause of CKD as you read this. According to the Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/constipation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354253

“Hormones help balance fluids in your body. Diseases and conditions that upset the balance of hormones may lead to constipation, including:

• Diabetes
• Overactive parathyroid gland (hyperparathyroidism)
• Pregnancy
• Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism)”

Many of the sites I perused suggested drinking more water to avoid or correct constipation. But we’re CKD patients; our fluid intake (Well, mine, anyway) is restricted. I’m already drinking my maximum of 64 ounces a day. In the words of Laurel and Hardy’s Hardy, “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” It’s possible constipation contributed to my developing CKD and drinking more may help, but with CKD you’re limited to how much you can drink.

Another suggestion I ran into on many sites was increase your fruit and vegetable intake. Great, just great. I’m already at my maximum of three different fruits and three different vegetables – each of different serving sizes, mind you – daily.

Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constipation#Medications has a great deal of information about constipation. Remember though that anyone can edit any Wikipedia article at any time. Be that as it may, this sentence leaped out at me:

“Metabolic and endocrine problems which may lead to constipation include: hypercalcemia, hypothyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, porphyria, chronic kidney disease, pan-hypopituitarism, diabetes mellitus, and cystic fibrosis….”

Thank you, MedicineNet for reminding us that iron can cause constipation. How many of us (meaning CKD patients) are on iron tablets due to the anemia that CKD may cause? I realize some patients are even taking injections of synthetic iron to help with red blood production, something the kidneys are charged with and slow down on when they are in decline.

Apparently, another gift of aging can be constipation since your metabolic system slows down. That’s also what makes it so hard to lose weight once you reach a certain weight. I’m getting a lot of information here, but I’m still not clear as to how one may cause the other. Let’s search some more.

I think I just hit something. We already know that diabetes is the number one cause of CKD. Did you remember that high blood pressure is the second most usual cause of CKD? Take a look at this from Health at https://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20452199,00.html#inflammatory-bowel-disease-3:

“Constipation can be a side effect of some common drugs used to treat high blood pressure, such as calcium channel blockers and diuretics.

Diuretics, for instance, lower blood pressure by increasing urine output, which flushes water from your system. However, water is needed to keep stools soft and get them out of the body.”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

It gets even better. The American Association of Kidney Patients at https://aakp.org/dialysis/relieving-constipation/ not only offered more clarification, but offered a list of high fiber foods without going over most of our potassium and phosphorous limits. Fiber intake is considered another way to both avoid and help with constipation.

“Adults need 20-35 grams of fiber daily. However, for dialysis patients who have to limit their fluid intake, this may be too much since it is thought increased dietary fiber may require an increased fluid intake. Also, all patients are different so the amount of fiber needed to relieve constipation varies from person to person.

High Fiber Foods

Bran muffin                 ½ muffin

Brown rice (cooked)   ½ cup

Broccoli*                    ½ cup

Peach                          1 medium

Prunes*                       3

Prunes*                       3

Spaghetti (cooked)      ½ cup

Turnips*                      ¾ cup

(Each serving contains about 150mg potassium, 20-90mg phosphorus and 1 – 5.4 grams of fiber.) (*Items contains 2 or more grams of fiber per serving.)”

I’ve got the connection between constipation and CKD now; do you?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Cindy Tells All

On June 11th of this year, I wrote about Polycystic Kidney Disease after having met Cindy Guentert-Baldo at a kidney event. She has a type of kidney disease that I had no clue about until she started explaining it. What she had to say caught my attention, so I asked her if she would be willing to guest blog. I knew she had a family and is both a lettering artist and YouTube creator. That’s a lot of busy, especially if you’re dealing with a chronic illness. Luckily for us, she was able to work a guest blog into her busy schedule.

*****

In some ways, I live the typical middle class American mom life. I have a middle schooler and a high schooler. I work from home, my husband works a 9-5 in an office. The kids go to school, do their homework, go to activities. I have coffee dates with friends and dinner out with family, we go to the movies, we stay home and do yard work. Same routine, same rhythm as so many other families we know.

This picture doesn’t tell the whole story: I have polycystic kidney disease. I am currently in Stage 4, with my eGFR hovering around 25. My kidneys, at last measurement, were 27 and 25 cm in length.

Part of my daily rhythm is taking 10 different medications to control my blood pressure, manage other symptoms of being in Stage 4 of kidney disease and to help with my pain levels. Another part is having to take breaks when my energy flags or my pain levels get high enough to make sitting at a desk impossible. My kids have learned to read my body language so they know when Mom’s having a bad pain day. They’ve also learned to not hug me around my stomach, as my kidneys are so large that a loving hug could send me to bed for a few days.

I’ve burst a cyst making my bed, tying my shoe, twisting at the waist. I currently have a cyst the size of a healthy kidney underneath my left ribs that is a constant reminder that I am sick.

Aside from the physical problems that come with ADPKD (Let me help Cindy out here with a definition from emedicine at https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/244907-overview: “Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a multisystemic and progressive disorder characterized by cyst formation and enlargement in the kidney … and other organs (eg, liver, pancreas, spleen). Up to 50% of patients with ADPKD require renal replacement therapy by 60 years of age.”), there is also the emotional baggage I carry.

This disease is genetic – I have multiple family members in different stages. In some ways, I am grateful to have people to talk to who understand without my having to explain. On a recent vacation my sister (who is in Stage 5) and I lay next to each other and just let out our frustrations and difficulties, knowing we had someone listening who understood. Our grandmother is in her 15th year with her transplant – she has impressed upon us how crucial it is to be informed about the disease in general and our health specifically.

I carry a lot of emotional, painful baggage due to this disease. Our father passed away from a brain stem aneurysm at age 40, brought on due to high blood pressure and PKD. My sister and I were diagnosed shortly afterwards. These days, as I approach 40, I live with a certain amount of terror. What if I die and leave my kids the way my dad left me? I’m aware of how unreasonable of a fear that is – my father died because he was unable to get health insurance and, thus, was unable to care for himself as his kidney disease progressed. I have learned from that.

That doesn’t change the deep fear inside me.

I also live with the guilt that I may have passed this disease to one or both of my children. Was I selfish becoming a parent knowing the kids themselves could wind up with PKD? I was healthy when I had them. I had no idea what I would be feeling like as my kidneys grew and began to fail. Make no mistake; I adore my children, and the world is a better place with them in it. But that doesn’t make the guilt go away.

I worry about having access to healthcare. I worry about dialysis with kids still in school. I worry about something happening to me the way it did to my dad. I worry about something happening to my sister the way it did to our dad. I struggle with my body image as my kidneys grow and I look more and more pregnant. I fight with my expectations of what I think my body should be able to do, and what I am actually able to do. I fight against the idea that I am a sick person.

Despite ALL of this, I love my life. I love my family. I love my friends. I live a mundane, repetitive, fantastic, beautiful life of a mom, a wife, a sister, a friend, an artist, a woman.

I am not PKD. I am a person with PKD…

And I am so much more.

*****

I have to admire Cindy for her honesty here. She would be having these feelings whether or not she shared them with us, but the fact that she did may just make it easier for other PKD patients to speak about their own fears.

By the way, The American Kidney Fund’s next webinar, Advocating for a rare disease, is on Thursday, July 26, 2018 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT. The speakers will be Angeles Herrera, Holly Bode, You can register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7986767093922676227.

In other news, the SlowItDownCKD book series now includes SlowItDownCKD 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, all available from Amazon.com and B & N.com. I had contemplated changing the title of What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease to SlowItDownCKD 2010 but rejected the idea. I like that title; don’t you? Of course, expect SlowItDownCKD 2018 early next year. These books were written for those of you who have requested the blogs in print form for those family members and friends who are either not computer savvy or don’t have easy access to a computer. It’s my pleasure to comply with that request. Oh, I still have one desk copy each of the retired The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Parts 1 & 2 if you’ve not received a free book from me before and would like one of them. Just respond with a comment so I know you were the first to ask.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Only One?

Loads of good things have been happening in my family lately, among them a couple of marriages. That, of course, brings new people into the family. There’s always that obligatory meet-the-new-in-laws dinner.  At one of these, a just added family member mentioned that she only had one kidney. Then she asked me what that means as far as Chronic Kidney Disease… and I didn’t know. Today’s blog is for her.

Let’s jump right in with this explanation from the U.S. Department of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/solitary-kidney.

When a person has only one kidney or one working kidney, this kidney is called a solitary kidney. People born with kidney dysplasia have both kidneys; however, one kidney does not function (top right). When a kidney is removed surgically due to disease or for donation, both the kidney and ureter are removed (bottom right).

Well that was pretty straight forward. I wondered if she should be taking any kind of special cautions. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, PubMed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16985610,

Removal of one kidney leads to structural and functional changes by the remaining kidney, including increased filtration of the remaining glomeruli. These functional changes have generally been considered beneficial because they mitigate the reduction in the total glomerular filtration rate that would otherwise occur, but experimental evidence suggests that these changes may have an adverse effect on the remaining kidney.

That sounded great… until I got to ‘adverse effect.’ So, naturally, I wanted to know what they meant. The Kidney and Urology Foundation of America, Inc. at http://www.kidneyurology.org/Library/Kidney_Health/Solitary_Kidney.php told me what I wanted to know.

If having a single kidney does affect your health, the changes are likely to be so small and happen so slowly that you won’t notice them. Over long periods of time, however, these gradual changes may require specific measures or treatments. Changes that may result from a single kidney include the following:

• High blood pressure. Kidneys help maintain a healthy blood pressure by regulating how much fluid flows through the bloodstream and by making a hormone called renin that works with other hormones to expand or contract blood vessels. Many people who lose or donate a kidney are found to have slightly higher blood pressure after several years.
• Proteinuria. Excessive protein in the urine, a condition known as proteinuria, can be a sign of kidney damage. People are often found to have higher-than-normal levels of protein in their urine after they have lived with one kidney for several years.
• Reduced GFR. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) shows how efficiently your kidneys are removing wastes from your bloodstream. People have a reduced GFR if they have only one kidney.

In the nephron …, tiny blood vessels intertwine with urine-collecting tubes. Each kidney contains about 1 million nephrons.

You can have high blood pressure, proteinuria, and reduced GFR and still feel fine. As long as these conditions are under control, they will probably not affect your health or longevity. Schedule regular checkups with your doctor to monitor these conditions.

Wait a minute! Those are also the effects of Chronic Kidney Disease. And as you read on, you’ll see that the precautions are the same as those for someone who already has CKD.

What, then, is my new in-law supposed to do since she has a solitary kidney? I went to Medic8, a new site for me, at http://www.medic8.com/kidney-disorders/solitary-kidney.htm for the following suggestions.

Monitoring

Your doctor should monitor your kidney function by checking your blood pressure and testing your urine and blood once a year.

• Normal blood pressure is considered to be 120/80 or lower. You have high blood pressure if it is over 140/90. People with kidney disease or one kidney should keep their blood pressure below 130/80. Controlling blood pressure is especially important because high blood pressure can damage kidneys.
• Your doctor may use a strip of special paper dipped into a little cup of your urine to test for protein. The colour of the “dipstick” indicates the presence or absence of protein. A more sensitive test for proteinuria involves laboratory measurement and calculation of the protein-to-creatinine ratio. A high protein-to-creatinine ratio in urine (greater than 30 milligrams of albumin per 1 gram of creatinine) shows that kidneys are leaking protein that should be kept in the blood.
• … scientists have discovered that they can estimate a person’s GFR based on the amount of creatinine in a small blood sample. The new GFR calculation uses the patient’s creatinine measurement along with weight, age, and values assigned for sex and race. …. If your GFR stays consistently below 60, you are considered to have chronic kidney disease.

Controlling Blood Pressure

If your blood pressure is above normal, you should work with your doctor to keep it below 130/80. Great care should be taken in selecting blood pressure medicines for people with a solitary kidney. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are two classes of blood pressure medicine that protect kidney function and reduce proteinuria. But these medicines may be harmful to someone with renal artery stenosis (RAS), which is the hardening of the arteries that enter the kidneys. Diuretics can help control blood pressure by removing excess fluid in the body. Controlling your blood pressure may require a combination of two or more medicines, plus changes in diet and activity level.

Eating Sensibly

Having a single kidney does not mean that you have to follow a special diet. You simply need to make healthy choices, including fruits, vegetables, grains, and low-fat dairy foods. Limit your daily salt (sodium) intake to 2,000 milligrams or less if you already have high blood pressure. Reading nutrition labels on packaged foods to learn how much sodium is in one serving and keeping a sodium diary can help. Limit alcohol and caffeine intake as well.

Avoid high-protein diets. Protein breaks down into the waste materials that the kidneys must remove, so excessive protein puts an extra burden on the kidneys. Eating moderate amounts of protein is still important for proper nutrition. A dietitian can help you find the right amount of protein in your diet.

Avoiding Injury

…. Having a solitary kidney should not automatically disqualify you from sports participation. Children should be encouraged to engage in some form of physical activity, even if contact sports are ruled out. Protective gear such as padded vests worn under a uniform can make limited contact sports like basketball or soccer safe. Doctors, parents, and patients should consider the risks of any activity and decide whether the benefits outweigh those risks.

I am happy to say I think our new relative is going to find this a comforting blog. I know I did.

Oh, talking about one. I have one desk copy of the now retired The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2 left. Leave a comment if you’d like to have it. All I ask is that you not have received a free book from me before.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

 

No Longer an Actor, Now I’m a Reviewer (Of Sorts)

Last month I received an email from Screen Media asking if I’d like to preview Chicken Soup for the Soul’s One Last Thing. It stars two actors I know about, “…Wendell Pierce (TV’s The Wire) and Jurnee Smollett-Bell (TV’s Underground) and is primarily set in Brooklyn.” Hmmm, two appealing actors AND it was set in Brooklyn. I still wasn’t sure so I emailed back asking if SlowItDownCKD was the intended recipient for this email. Once assured it was, I agreed. Hey, I’m always up for an adventure.

When I saw the movie, I understood. One story line in the movie deals with a kidney dysplasia patient’s need for a donor. That’s all I’ll say about the movie so I don’t ruin the story for you. In other words, you’ll get no spoiler alerts from me.

In addition to crying at the most poignant parts of the movie, my brain was working overtime. Granted the character suffered from a rare kidney disease, but so rare that I’d never heard of it? You can tell what’s coming, can’t you? If I hadn’t heard of it, have my readers? And that’s what I’ll be writing about today.

Okay now, let’s see what this rare kidney disease is. It made sense to me to go to one of the tried and true websites I usually go to for information. This is what The National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/children/kidney-dysplasia had to offer:

“Kidney dysplasia is a condition in which the internal structures of one or both of a fetus’ kidneys do not develop normally while in the womb. During normal development, two thin tubes of muscle called ureters grow into the kidneys and branch out to form a network of tiny structures called tubules. The tubules collect urine as the fetus grows in the womb. In kidney dysplasia, the tubules fail to branch out completely. Urine that would normally flow through the tubules has nowhere to go. Urine collects inside the affected kidney and forms fluid-filled sacs called cysts. The cysts replace normal kidney tissue and prevent the kidney from functioning.

Kidney dysplasia can affect one kidney or both kidneys. Babies with severe kidney dysplasia affecting both kidneys generally do not survive birth. Those who do survive may need the following early in life:

• blood-filtering treatments called dialysis
• a kidney transplant

Children with dysplasia in only one kidney have normal kidney function if the other kidney is unaffected. Those with mild dysplasia of both kidneys may not need dialysis or a kidney transplant for several years.

Kidney dysplasia is also called renal dysplasia or multicystic dysplastic kidney.”

They also offered some clarifying diagrams.

So now we know what it is, but what causes it? I went to MedicineNet at https://www.medicinenet.com/kidney_dysplasia/article.htm#what_is_kidney_dysplasia for the answer to this question.

“Kidney dysplasia may be caused by the mother’s exposure to certain drugs or by genetic factors. Pregnant women should talk with their health care providers before taking any medicine during their pregnancy. Drugs that may cause kidney dysplasia include prescription medicines, such as drugs to treat seizures and blood pressure medicines called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). A mother’s use of illegal drugs-such as cocaine-can also cause kidney dysplasia in her unborn child.

Kidney dysplasia can also have genetic causes. The disorder appears to be an autosomal dominant trait, which means one parent may pass the trait to a child. When kidney dysplasia is discovered in a child, an ultrasound examination may reveal the condition in one of the parents.

Several genetic syndromes that affect other body systems may include kidney dysplasia as one part of the syndrome. A syndrome is a group of symptoms or conditions that may seem unrelated but are thought to have the same cause-usually a genetic cause. A baby with kidney dysplasia might also have problems of the digestive tract, nervous system, heart and blood vessels, muscles and skeleton, or other parts of the urinary tract.

A baby with kidney dysplasia might have other urinary problems that affect the normal kidney. On the left, urine is blocked from draining out of the kidney. On the right, urine flows backward from the bladder into the ureter and kidney, a condition called reflux.

(Me, here: You’ll be able to figure out which was the cause of Jurnee Smollett-Belle’s character once you see the movie.)

Problems of the urinary tract that lead to kidney dysplasia might also affect the normal kidney. For example, one urinary birth defect causes blockage at the point where urine normally drains from the kidney into the ureter. Another birth defect causes urine to flow from the bladder back up the ureter, sometimes all the way to the kidney. This condition is called reflux. Over time, if these problems are not corrected, they can damage the one working kidney and lead to total kidney failure.”

I’m thankful this is a rare disease, but wondered just how rare it was. Back to NIKKD at the same URL as before:

“Scientists estimate that kidney dysplasia affects about one in 4,000 babies…^. This estimate may be low because some people with kidney dysplasia are never diagnosed with the condition.”

I’m not a numbers person, but that seems like a lot of babies.

Now, the biggie. What can be done before the need for dialysis or transplant rears its head? I went directly to Urology Care Foundation at http://www.urologyhealth.org/urologic-conditions/kidney-(renal)-dysplasia-and-cystic-disease/printable-version since the kidneys are part of your urologic system.

• “Treatment may only include symptom management.
• Monitoring should include blood pressure checks, kidney function tests, and urine testing for protein.
• Periodic ultrasound can be used to make sure the other kidney continues to grow normally and no other problems develop.
• Antibiotics may be needed for urinary tract infections.
• The kidney should be removed only if it causes pain or high blood pressure, or ultrasound is abnormal.”

The AAKP Conference I wrote about last week opened my eyes to how much I don’t know about other kidney diseases and those that might affect CKD. The result is that I’ve asked quite a few people and organizations to guest blog about those areas in which they are experts. Expect to see these guest blogs throughout the summer.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Coming Home

I’m not a joiner. I’ve never been one. That’s why I was so surprised that I joined the American Association of Kidney Patients… and even more surprised to find myself attending this year’s conference in Tampa Bay, Florida. Readers had been suggesting I do so for years, but I’m not a joiner. Let’s change that; I wasn’t a joiner. The AAKP conference made the difference.

What’s that you ask? Of course, you need to know what they are. This is from their website at https://aakp.org/,

“THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF KIDNEY PATIENTS SINCE 1969™

The American Association of Kidney Patients is dedicated to improving the quality of life for kidney patients through education, advocacy, patient engagement and the fostering of patient communities.

Education

The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) is recognized as the leader for patient-centered education – continually developing high quality, professionally written, edited and reviewed educational pieces covering every level of kidney disease.

Advocacy

For nearly 50 years, AAKP has been the patient voice – advocating for improved access to high-quality health care through regulatory and legislative reform at the federal level. The Association’s work has improved long term outcomes in both quality of health and the ability for patients and family members affected by kidney disease to lead a more productive and meaningful life.

Community

AAKP is leading the effort to bring kidney patients together to promote community, conversations and to seek out services that help maximize patients’ everyday lives.

An IRS registered, Sec. 501(C)(3) organization, AAKP is governed by a Board of Directors. The current board is comprised of dialysis patients, chronic kidney disease patients, [Me here: You did notice ‘chronic kidney disease patients,’ right?] transplant recipients, health care professionals and members of the public concerned with kidney disease. The board and membership are serviced by a staff of five employees under the direction of Diana Clynes, Interim Executive Director, at the AAKP National Office located in Tampa, Florida.”

What’s not mentioned here is that the organization was started by only six patients. I find that astounding, but I’ll let them explain their history:

“Founded by Patients for Patients

King County Hospital, New York

The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) has a rich history in patient advocacy and kidney disease education. AAKP started in 1969 with six dialysis patients at King County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. They wanted to form an organization that would elevate the kidney patient voice in national health care arena, provide patients with educational resources to improve their lives and give kidney patients and their family members a sense of community. They met twice a week in the hospital ward and while hooked up to primitive dialysis machines for 12 to 18 hours at a time they brainstormed, researched and eventually formed AAKP.

The group originally called themselves NAPH (National Association of Patients on Hemodialysis, which later changed to AAKP). AAKP joined forces with other patient groups to fight for the enactment of the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Program, testifying before congressional committees, seeking public support and creating a newsletter (the forerunner of today’s AAKP RENALIFE) to keep everyone informed. This effort was crowned with success in 1972 when Congress enacted the program that continues to provide Medicare funding for dialysis and kidney transplantation.

After winning the initial and critical battle for the Medicare ESRD Program, AAKP turned its attention to other important issues — the need to establish a secure national organization to preserve the visibility and influence of patients with Congress and to develop national, educational and supportive programs.

Today & Beyond

AAKP has grown into a nationally recognized patient organization that reaches over 1 million people yearly. It remains dedicated to providing patients with the education and knowledge necessary to ensure quality of life and quality of health.”

This former non-joiner has found her association. I originally avoided the conferences because I thought they would be focused only on dialysis and transplant patients. Boy, was I ever wrong. Here are some of the outbreak (small group) sessions that dealt with other aspects of kidney disease:

Social Media (You’re right: I signed up for that one right away since I identify as a CKD awareness advocate.)

Dental Health

How Kidney Disease Impacts Family Members

Managing the Early Stage of CKD

Understanding Clinical Trials

Treatment Options

Staying Active

Veterans Administration

Caregiver’s Corner

Living Well with Kidney Disease

Avoid Infections

Of course, there were many outbreak sessions for dialysis and transplant patients as well. And there were two opportunities to lunch with experts. That’s where I tentatively learned about governmental aspects of our disease. There were opportunities to learn about nutrition, medications, working, and coping. I’ve just mentioned a few of the 50 different topics discussed.

The general sessions, the ones everyone attended, informed us of what the government’s national policy had to do with kidney disease, legislation, nutrition, patient centered care, and innovation in care (Keep an eye out for Third Kidney, Inc.’s August guest blog.).

I have not covered even half of what was offered during the conference. Did I mention renal friendly food was available and you could dialyze near the hotel if need be? The exhibitors went beyond friendly and explaining their products to being interested in who you were and why you were there. This was the most welcoming conference I’d been to in decades.

AAKP President Paul Conway summed up my feelings about the conference when he was interviewed by The Tampa Bay Times on the last day of the conference,

“This meeting is a way for us to bring patients together and educate them on trends that could affect their own health.”

I met so many others who have kidney disease and so many others who advocate for different types of kidney disease and patients’ rights. I was educated about so many areas, especially those I previously had known nothing about, for example, legislation. It was like coming home. Would I attend again? You bet’cha. Would I urge you to attend? At the risk of being redundant, you bet’cha.

I was so excited about AAKP that I almost didn’t leave myself enough space to tell you about yet another freebie. The Book of Blogs: Moderate Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 1 is no longer in print since it has been divided into SlowItDownCKD 2011 and SlowItDownCKD 2012. But I still have a desk copy. Let me know if you’d like it. My only restriction is that you have not received a free book from me before.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Let Your Voice Be Heard

Someone on a Facebook Chronic Kidney Disease Support Group Page asked how we can make others more aware of what CKD patients want. I’ve been tweeting (exchanging remarks on Twitter) with those who could answer this question just recently. How perfect was that?

The first thing the American Society of Nephrology requested is that those of you who are familiar with Twitter, or are willing to become familiar with this social media, join the monthly #AskASN twitter chats. To join Twitter you simply go to Twitter.com and sign yourself up, no special expertise necessary. That pound sign, or as it’s commonly known now – hashtag, before the words signify that this is a person or group with a Twitter account. What comes after the hashtag is your handle, the name you choose for yourself. Mine is – naturally – #SlowItDownCKD. You can search for me on Twitter.

#AskASN is one of the hashtags of the American Society of Nephrology, the ASN which you’ve often seen me quote. Yes, they are respected. Yes, they are doctors. And, yes, they do want to know what we as kidney disease patients want them to know about our lives as their patients. Big hint: their next Twitter Chat will be in late July.

This year’s May 28^th blog was about KidneyX, the same topic as June’s Twitter Chat. Here’s a little reminder of what KidneyX stands for:

“Principles

• Patient-Centered Ensure all product development is patient-centered
• Urgent Create a sense of urgency to meet the needs of people with kidney diseases
• Achievable Ground in scientifically-driven technology development
• Catalytic Reduce regulatory and financial risks to catalyze investment in kidney space
• Collaborative Foster multidisciplinary collaboration including innovators throughout science and technology, the business community, patients, care partners, and other stakeholders
• Additive Address barriers to innovation public/private sectors do not otherwise
• Sustainable Invest in a diverse portfolio to balance risk and sustain KidneyX”

Did you notice that first principle: patient-centered? Or the fifth one: collaborative? We are included in that; we’re the patients.

IDEA Lab is one of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ partners. This is how they define themselves:

“We test and validate solutions to solve challenging problems in the delivery of health and human services.”

And this is what they had to say during the KidneyX Twitter Chat:

“HHS IDEA Lab‏Verified account @HHSIDEALabJun 19

Absolutely. Patients are innovators and we need to recognize that #askASN#KidneyX”

Patients. They want to hear from us, patients.

Before reproducing a small part of the @AskASN KidneyX Twitter Chat, I want to introduce the players.

Kevin J. Fowler (@gratefull080504) is a patient who has had a preemptive kidney transplant and is highly involved in the patient voice being heard.

Tejas Patel (@GenNextMD) is a nephrologist with a large social media presence who advocates “for halting the progression of ckd so no dialysis or transplant [is necessary].”

James Myers (@kidneystories) is a fairly recent transplant with a strong advocacy for transplant patients.

I’m me; you already know me.

Now, the excerpt:

• Kevin J. Fowler‏ @gratefull080504Jun 19

Thank you @GenNextMD Me too! #AskASNhttps://twitter.com/GenNextMD/status/1009245134964318209 …

Kevin J. Fowler added,

• Tejas Patel @GenNextMD

Replying to @kidneystories

I am advocating for halting the progression of ckd so no dialysis or transplant #askasn #moonshot

• Gail Rae-Garwood‏ @SlowitdownckdJun 19

Replying to @gratefull080504@GenNextMD

@GenNextMD That’s what those of us pre-dialysis want, too. The question is how do we do that? As a lay person, I’m at a loss here.

• Tejas Patel‏ @GenNextMDJun 20

Replying to @Slowitdownckd@gratefull080504

Major undertaking by medical community, organizations (ASN, AAKP, NKF, RPA) and implementation of breakthrough therapies keeping patient central. Engaging all stakeholders will help prioritize what works for patients. Dialogue via formal & social media helps us understand better.

Replying to @GenNextMD@Slowitdownckd@gratefull080504

We recently had patient editorial in @CJASN by @gratefull080504 and interview https://www.kidneynews.org/kidney-news/features/patient-engagement … Lot of work needs to be done

I read the article. I think you should, too. Kevin makes the point that patient voices need to be heard and the nephrologist who was interviewed with him, Dr. Eleanor D. Lederer, agrees.

From reading my blog alone, you’re already familiar with the oft quoted American Society of Nephrology (ASN), American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) which was the subject of June 25^th blog, and the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), a staple in the blog. But what is the RPA?

Let’s find out. It turns out that this is the Renal Physicians Association. Their website is at https://www.renalmd.org/. If you go there, you’ll notice four different choices. One of them is Advocacy. That’s the one I clicked. Keep in mind that this site is for physicians.

“Become An Advocate for Excellence in Nephrology Practice

It is not only your right but also your obligation to let elected officials and policy makers know how you feel about important issues. It is your responsibility to speak out on matters that affect you directly or no one else will. RPA has developed pathways to allow you to do this.

Recognizing that nephrologists and their practice teams have limited time, an easy way to get involved in federal advocacy is by joining the RPA Political Action Committee (PAC) and Nephrology Coverage Advocacy Program (NCAP).

Take Action Nationally!

RPA’s Legislative Action Center (LAC) facilitates the important communication between RPA members and their members of Congress as well as representatives in their state legislatures. The LAC allows RPA members to track the progress of and search for all current legislation being considered by Congress.”

Our doctors are being asked to speak with the government on our behalf. But how will they know what we want or need, you ask. Easy enough: you tell them when you see them. You have regular appointments; that’s when you can talk with them about legislation you feel is necessary.

I never knew how much my opinion is wanted. I never knew how much YOUR opinion is wanted. Now we all know, so how about speaking out, raising your voice, and advocating for yourself. It’s not that scary if you start by just speaking with your doctor.  Although, I’ll be looking for you on ASN’s #askASN Twitter Chat in late July.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Sorry Spiderman, That was Webinars not Webshooters

So much has been going on in my world lately that it was hard to choose what to write about today. In addition to my family, there’s the experience of my first American Association of Kidney Patients Conference, PKD, KidneyX and the list goes on. It was hard to choose, that is, until the American Kidney Fund sent me the following information. They explain who they are, what they do, and why they hold their free monthly educational seminars. Good timing here since the next webinar is this Friday. I’ll let them take over for a while and write some more once they’re done.

Oh, wait. First we need to know what a webinar is. My favorite online dictionary, Merriam-Webster, at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/webinar defines this in the following way:

“a live online educational presentation during which participating viewers can submit questions and comments”

That means it’s real time; you have to be online to participate. Don’t worry if the time doesn’t work for you because AKF has former webinars on their websites. You just won’t be able to ask your own questions, although you will be able to hear the questions others have asked during the webinar and the answers they received. Okay, now we turn this section of the blog over to The American Kidney Fund.

“The American Kidney Fund (AKF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people fight kidney disease and lead healthier lives.  Living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or kidney failure is incredibly taxing, and can put strain on all elements of a person’s life. And although doctors are available for patients to ask questions about their disease, many kidney patients do not know what they should ask, and are left needing answers even after leaving a doctor’s appointment.

AKF believes every patient and caregiver has the right to understand what is going on with their health, or the health of their loved one, and how to best manage it. That is where we come in.

The American Kidney Fund hosts free, monthly, educational webinars meant for patients and caregivers. Each webinar explores a different topic relevant to living well with kidney disease. Since the webinar program’s launch in 2016, AKF has hosted over 27 webinars on many topics including nutrition, employment, insurance, transplant, exercise, heart disease, advocacy, pregnancy, mental health, and more.

Webinar speakers are carefully chosen based on their knowledge, and ability to connect with a patient audience. This ensures we deliver the highest quality of information in the best way. Some speakers are kidney patients or kidney donors themselves.  The webinars are delivered from a variety of perspectives so that the advice given is both relatable and reliable.

AKF aims to take complex topics and simplify the content without taking away from the quality of information.  In an effort to be inclusive of non-English speakers, AKF has hosted a webinar entirely in Spanish on preventing and treating kidney disease, and is in the process of translating even more webinars into Spanish.

One of the highlights of the American Kidney Fund webinars is the live Q&A session held during the last 15-20 minutes of each presentation, when the audience can ask their questions in real time and receive an immediate answer from our speaker. This creates a unique space for our attendees to interact anonymously with an expert in a judgement-free zone. We understand the time-demands of being a kidney patient or caregiver, which is why all our webinars, along with the PowerPoint slides, are also uploaded to the AKF website for on-demand viewing.

Our next webinar is on Friday, June 22 from 1-2pm (EST) and will discuss why phosphorus is an important nutrient for kidney patients to consider, and the best ways to manage phosphorus through diet and medicine.  Carolyn Feibig, the dietitian and speaker for this webinar is exceptionally knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her field. If you have questions about how to manage a CKD-friendly diet, this is your opportunity to learn more and to ask your questions.

After each webinar we ask for feedback and suggestions from our audience about future webinars.  We invite you to register now, and then share which topics you would like to hear about next. We hope you will use our webinars as a tool to live the healthiest life possible with kidney disease.

American Kidney Fund www.kidneyfund.org/webinars“

I looked at some of their past webinar topics and was impressed with the variety.

My office is abuzz. SlowItDownCKD 2013, both digital and print, is available on Amazon. Give it a few weeks before it appears on B&N.com. I’m excited because I vowed to separate the unwieldy, small print, indexless The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2 into two separate books with a SlowItDownCKD title, index, and larger print just as I’d done with The Book of Blogs: Moderate Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 1 (which is no longer available since it is now SlowItDownCKD 2011 and SlowItDownCKD 2012). That’s half way done now, boys and girls… I mean readers.

Here’s something a bit unusual: I have a request from a reader who has the rare kidney disease Calyceal Diverticulum. Rather than asking me to write about it, she’s looking for others with the same disease. Do we have any readers here with this disease? If so, we could make the blog a safe place to connect. Or you could email me and I’d pass on your information to her. Alternately, with her permission, I could pass her information to you. I can understand her need to communicate with others with the same disease, so please do let me know if you’d like to communicate with her.

And last, but not least, and I have to admit brain fog has me here, so bear with me if you’ve read this before. In digging through the morass of my desk, (I have been traveling a lot lately.) I uncovered a beta copy of SlowItDownCKD 2017. That means it has all the content, but I didn’t like the formatting so I re-did it. Would you like it? If so, just be the first one to contact me to let me know. Oh, one restriction: only those who haven’t received a free book from me before, please. I’d like to share the CKD information with as many people as possible.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

 

 

PKD: That’s News to Me

For the last eight years, I’ve pretty much stuck to writing about Chronic Kidney Disease with an exception here or there. When I was at a pharmaceutical think tank to help the company understand how they could be more helpful to kidney patients, I met a woman with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

I’d heard of it and knew it had to do with multiple cysts on the kidneys, but that’s all I knew. That got me to thinking. Why didn’t I know more and what more should I know about it? So I did what I do best: decided to write about it.

Right now, the former English teacher in me is begging to come out. Indulge me, please. Poly is a prefix meaning many. Cyst means an abnormal sac in the body which contains air, fluid, or a semi-solid substance. Thank you What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease for the definition of cyst. Ic is simply a suffix meaning of or about. Aren’t you glad I studied English at Hunter College of the City University of New York all those years ago?

Seriously now, I turned to PKD Info at https://www.pkdinfo.com/ only to discover there are two different kinds of polycystic kidney disease. Let’s start with a simple definition of the term PKD.

“PKD describes a group of genetic diseases that cause cysts to form and grow in the kidney. Genetic diseases are the result of changes, or mutations, in a person’s DNA, and can be passed from parent to child. In PKD, cysts are filled with fluid. Over time, they expand, making the kidneys grow larger. This makes it hard for the kidneys to function normally and can lead to kidney failure.”

As for the two different kinds, the PKD Foundation at https://pkdcure.org/what-is-pkd/ tells us:

“There are two types of PKD: autosomal dominant (ADPKD) and autosomal recessive (ARPKD). ADPKD is the more common type and affects more than 600,000 Americans and 12.4 million people worldwide. ARPKD is a rare form of the disease that occurs in 1 in 20,000 children worldwide.

A typical kidney is the size of a human fist and weighs about a third of a pound. PKD kidneys can be much larger, some growing as large as a football, and weighing up to 30 pounds each. The number of cysts can range from just a few to many. The size of the cysts can range from a pinhead to as large as a grapefruit. Although the primary sign of PKD is cysts in the kidneys, there are other symptoms that can occur in various areas of the body.”

I needed more information, especially about how the two types of PKD differ so I turned to my old standby The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/polycystic-kidney-disease/autosomal-dominant-pkd  and found the following information:

“’Autosomal dominant’ means you can get the PKD gene mutation, or defect, from only one parent. Researchers have found two different gene mutations that cause ADPKD. Most people with ADPKD have defects in the PKD1 gene, and 1 out of 6 or 1 out of 7 people with ADPKD have a defective PKD2 gene….

Health care providers can diagnose people with PKD1 sooner because their symptoms appear sooner. People with PKD1 also usually progress more quickly to kidney failure than people with PKD2. How quickly ADPKD progresses also differs from person to person.”

Symptoms? What symptoms? The Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/polycystic-kidney-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20352820 answered that question:

“Polycystic kidney disease symptoms may include:

• High blood pressure
• Back or side pain
• Headache
• Increase in the size of your abdomen
• Blood in your urine
• Frequent urination
• Kidney stones
• Kidney failure
• Urinary tract or kidney infections”

Whoa! I’ve got at least four of those symptoms, so how do I know I don’t have PKD? Remember those wonderful people who elected SlowItDownCKD as one of the six best kidney blogs two years in a row? You’re right, it’s Healthline at https://www.healthline.com/health/polycystic-kidney-disease#diagnosis. As they explained:

“Because ADPKD and ARPKD are inherited, your doctor will review your family history. They may initially order a complete blood count to look for anemia or signs of infection and a urinalysis to look for blood, bacteria, or protein in your urine.

To diagnose all three types of PKD, your doctor may use imaging tests to look for cysts of the kidney, liver, and other organs. Imaging tests used to diagnose PKD include:

• Abdominal ultrasound. This noninvasive test uses sound waves to look at your kidneys for cysts.
• Abdominal CT scan. This test can detect smaller cysts in the kidneys.
• Abdominal MRI scan. This MRI uses strong magnets to image your body to visualize kidney structure and look for cysts.
• Intravenous pyelogram. This test uses a dye to make your blood vessels show up more clearly on an X-ray.

Did I just read THREE types of PKD? I did. Maybe I’d better find out what the third one is. To do so, I turned to News Medical at https://www.news-medical.net/health/Polycystic-Kidney-Disease-vs-Acquired-Cystic-Kidney-Disease.aspx.

“The cause of ACKD is not fully known, and contrary to PKD, it tends to develop after a patient has had chronic kidney disease for some time – most commonly when they are undergoing renal dialysis to clean the blood (for example, in end stage renal disease). The cysts are created by the build-up of waste products and the deteriorating filtration in the kidneys.”

ACKD is Acquired Cystic Kidney Disease. It seems I have nothing to worry about at this point in my CKD, but I’m wondering how many of you know if there is PKD in your family history. Maybe it’s time to find out. Notice none of the tests are invasive. You know, of course, that we’ve just scratched the surface of PKD information today, right?

I did have cysts show up in both of my kidneys and my liver, but they were very small despite some growth being noticed and there were very few of them. I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet.

How are you beating the heat this summer? I’m hiding in my air conditioned office separating The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2 into two less unwieldy books each with larger print and an index. I’ll let you know when SlowItDownCKD 2013 and SlowItDownCKD 2014 are available. Surely you’ve noticed that The Books of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 1 is no longer for sale. That’s because it has now been separated into SlowItDownCKD 2011 and SlowItDownCKD 2012.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Last Week, The Country… This Week, The World

Last week, I wrote about a U.S. clinical trial program, AllofUs Research Program. This week we’re going global. Huh? What’s that, you ask. It’s KidneyX.

I can just feel you rolling your eyes. (Ask my children if you don’t think I can do that.)  Hold on a minute and I’ll let KidneyX explain what they are from their website at http://www.kidneyx.org.

“The Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) is a public-private partnership to accelerate innovation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney diseases. KidneyX seeks to improve the lives of the 850 million people worldwide currently affected by kidney diseases by accelerating the development of drugs, devices, biologics and other therapies across the spectrum of kidney care including:

Prevention

Diagnostics

Treatment”

I know, I know. Now you want to know why you should be getting excited about this program you don’t know much about. Let’s put it this way. There hasn’t been all that much change in the treatment of kidney disease since it was recognized. When was that? This question was answered in SlowItDownCKD 2015:

“…nephrologist Veeraish Chauhan from his ‘A Brief History of the Field of Nephrology’ in which he emphasizes how young the field of modern nephrology is.

‘Dr. Smith was an American physician and physiologist who was almost singlehandedly responsible for our current understanding of how the kidneys work. He dominated the field of twentieth century Nephrology so much that it is called the “Smithian Era of Renal Physiology“ .He wrote the veritable modern Bible of Nephrology titled, The Kidney: Structure and Function in Health and Disease. This was only in 1951.”

1951?????? It looks like I’m older than the history of kidney disease treatment is. Of course, there were earlier attempts by other people (Let’s not forget Dr. Bright who discovered kidney disease in the early 1800s.) But treatment?

Hmmm, how did Dr. Smith treat kidney disease I wondered as I started writing about KidneyX.

Clinics in Mother and Child Health was helpful here. I turned to their “A Short History of Nephrology Up to the 20^th Century” at https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/a-short-historic-view-of-nephrology-upto-the-20th-century-2090-7214-1000195.php? and found this information:

“His NYU time has been called the Smithian Era of renal physiology for his monumental research clarifying glomerular filtration, tubular absorption, and secretion of solutes in renal physiology …. His work established the concept that the kidney worked according to principles of physiology both as a filter and also as a secretory organ. Twenty-first century clinical nephrology stems from his work and teaching on the awareness of normal and abnormal functioning of the kidney.”

I see, so first the physiology and function of the kidney had to be understood before the disease could be treated.

 

I thought I remembered sodium intake as part of the plan to treat CKD way before the Smithian Era. I was wrong. This is also from SlowItDownCKD 2015:

“With all our outcry about following a low sodium diet, it was a bit shocking to realize that when this was first suggested as a way to avoid edema in 1949, it was practically dismissed. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the importance of a low sodium diet in Chronic Kidney Disease was acknowledged.”

Aha! So one of our dietary restrictions wasn’t accepted until the 1970s. I was already teaching high school English by then. Things did seem to be moving slowly when it came to Chronic Kidney Disease treatment.

Let’s see if I can find something more recent. This, from the National Kidney Fund at https://www.kidney.org/professionals/guidelines/guidelines_commentaries sounds promising, but notice that this has only been around since 1997. That’s only 21 years ago. It has been updated several times, but there doesn’t seem to be that much difference… or maybe I just didn’t understand the differences.

“The National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI)™ has provided evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and related complications since 1997…. KDOQI also convenes a small work group of U.S. based experts to review relevant international guidelines and write commentary to help the U.S. audience better understand applicability in their local clinical environment.

Clinical Practice Guidelines are documents that present evidence-based recommendations to aid clinicians in the treatment of particular diseases or groups of patients. They are not intended to be mandates but tools to help physicians, patients, and caregivers make treatment decisions that are right for the individual. With all guidelines, clinicians should be aware that circumstances may appear that require straying from the published recommendations.”

Time to get back to KidneyX before I run out of room in today’s blog. Here’s more that will explain their purpose:

“Principles

• Patient-Centered Ensure all product development is patient-centered
• Urgent Create a sense of urgency to meet the needs of people with kidney diseases
• Achievable Ground in scientifically-driven technology development
• Catalytic Reduce regulatory and financial risks to catalyze investment in kidney space
• Collaborative Foster multidisciplinary collaboration including innovators throughout science and technology, the business community, patients, care partners, and other stakeholders
• Additive Address barriers to innovation public/private sectors do not otherwise
• Sustainable Invest in a diverse portfolio to balance risk and sustain KidneyX”

This may explain why think tanks for kidney patients, all types of kidney patients, are beginning to become more prevalent.

Let’s go back to the website for more information. This is how they plan to succeed:

“Building off the success of similar public-private accelerators, KidneyX will engage a community of researchers, innovators, and investors to bring breakthrough therapies to patients by:

Development

Driving patient access to disruptive technologies via competitive, non-dilutive funding to innovators.

Coordination

Providing a clearer and less expensive path to bringing products to patients and their families.

Urgency

Creating a sense of urgency by spotlighting the immediate needs of patients and their families.”

One word jumped out at me: urgency. I am being treated for my CKD the same way CKD patients have been treated for decades…and decades. It’s time for a change.

One thing that doesn’t change is that we celebrate Memorial Day in the U.S. every year. And every year, I honor those who have died to protect my freedom and thank my lucky stars that Bear is not one of them. There is no way to describe the gratitude those of us who haven’t served in the military – like me – owe to those who have and lost their lives in doing so.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

All of Me, uh, Us

When I was a little girl, I liked to listen to my father whistle ‘All of Me,’ written by Marks and Simon in 1931 when Charlie, my father, was just 16. Only a few years later, it became a sort of love language for my mother and him. Enter a former husband of my own and my children. When my folks visited from Florida and my then husband’s side of the family journeyed over to Staten Island from Brooklyn to visit them, they all sang the song with great emotion. (By then, Bell’s palsy had robbed my father of the ability to whistle.)

To this day, I start welling up when I hear that song. But then I started thinking about the lyrics:

“All of me
Why not take all of me?”

Suddenly, it popped. For us, those with chronic kidney disease, it should be:

“All of us

Why not take all of us?”

For research purposes. To “speed up health research breakthroughs.” For help in our lifetime. To spare future generations whatever it is we’re suffering… and not just for us, but for our children… and their children, too.

The National Institutes of Health has instituted a new research program for just that purpose, although it’s open to anyone in the U.S. over the age of 18 whether ill with any disease or perfectly healthy. While only English and Spanish are the languages they can accommodate at this time, they are adding other languages.

I’m going to devote most of the rest of this blog to them. By the way, I’m even more inclined to be in favor of this program because they launched on my first born’s birthdate: May 6. All of Us has its own inspiring welcome for you at https://launch.joinallofus.org/

This is how they explain who they are and what they intend to do:

“The goal is to advance precision medicine. Precision medicine is health care that is based on you as an individual. It takes into account factors like where you live, what you do, and your family health history. Precision medicine’s goal is to be able to tell people the best ways to stay healthy. If someone does get sick, precision medicine may help health care teams find the treatment that will work best.

To get there, we need one million or more people. Those who join will share information about their health over time. Researchers will study this data. What they learn could improve health for generations to come. Participants are our partners. We’ll share information back with them over time.”

You’ll be reading more about precision medicine, which I’ve written about before, in upcoming blogs. This is from All of Us’s website at https://www.joinallofus.org/en, as is most of the other information in today’s blog, and makes it easy to understand just what they are doing.

How It Works

Participants Share Data

Participants share health data online. This data includes health surveys and electronic health records. Participants also may be asked to share physical measurements and blood and urine samples.

Data Is Protected

Personal information, like your name, address, and other things that easily identify participants will be removed from all data. Samples—also without any names on them—are stored in a secure biobank.

Researchers Study Data

In the future, approved researchers will use this data to conduct studies. By finding patterns in the data, they may make the next big medical breakthroughs.

Participants Get Information

Participants will get information back about the data they provide, which may help them learn more about their health.

Researchers Share Discoveries

Research may help in many ways. It may help find the best ways for people to stay healthy. It may also help create better tests and find the treatments that will work best for different people.

I’m busy, too busy to take on even one more thing. Or so I thought. When I read the benefits of the program (above) and how easy it is to join (below), I realized I’m not too busy for this and it is another way to advocate for Chronic Kidney Disease awareness. So I joined and hope you will, too.

Benefits of Taking Part

Joining the All of Us Research Program has its benefits.

Our goal is for you to have a direct impact on cutting-edge research. By joining the program, you are helping researchers to learn more about different diseases and treatments.

Here are some of the benefits of participating in All of Us.

Better Information

We’re all human, but we’re not all the same. Often our differences—like age, ethnicity, lifestyle habits, or where we live—can reveal important insights about our health.

By participating in All of Us, you may learn more about your health than ever before. If you like, you can share this information with your health care provider.

Better Tools

The goal of the program is better health for all of us. We want to inspire researchers to create better tools to identify, prevent, and treat disease.

You may also learn how to use tools like mobile devices, cell phones and tablets, to encourage healthier habits.

Better Research

We expect the All of Us Research Program to be here for the long-term. As the program grows, the more features will be added. There’s no telling what we can discover. All thanks to participants like you.

Better Ideas

You’re our partner. And as such, you are invited to help guide All of Us. Share your ideas and let us know what works, and what doesn’t.

Oh, about joining:

Get Started – Sign Up

Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need to do to join.

1

Create an Account

You will need to give an email address and password.

2

Fill in the Enrollment and Consent Forms

The process usually takes 18-30 minutes. If you leave the portal during the consent process, you will have to start again from the beginning.

3

Complete Surveys and More

Once you have given your consent, you will be asked to complete online health surveys. You may be asked to visit a partner center. There, you’ll be asked to provide blood and urine samples and have your physical measurements taken. We may also ask you to share data from wearables or other personal devices.

Before I leave you today, I have – what else? – a book give away. The reason? Just to share the joy that’s walked into my life lately. It’s easy to share the troubles; why not the joys? If you haven’t received one of my books in a giveaway before, all you have to do is be the first person to let me know you want this copy of SlowItDownCKD 2017.

 

I need to get back to that online health survey for All of Us now.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

 

Dare You Have Your First Mother’s Day?

Mother’s Day is this Sunday… and it’s my step-daughter’s first. That led me to remember my first with Ms. Nima Beckie Rosensfit and  I realized I’d never even heard of Chronic Kidney Disease then. But what if I had and I wanted to have a baby. What would I have to know?

That got me going. I know I blogged about this topic in February of this year, but I wanted to see if there was enough information for a part 2 to that blog. But, first, let’s take a look at how pregnancy affects the kidneys in a non-ckd woman.

The US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4089195/  helpful here:

“GFR rises early to a peak of 40% to 50% that of prepregnancy levels, resulting in lower levels of serum creatinine, urea, and uric acid. There is a net gain of sodium and potassium, but a greater retention of water, with gains of up to 1.6 L. Through effects of progesterone and alterations in RAAS, the systemic vascular resistance falls, leading to lower blood pressure and an increased RPF.”

You may need a reminder of some of these terms. Let’s see if What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease has their definitions. Aha! There are potassium and creatinine.

““Creatinine is … a compound released by voluntary muscle contraction. It tells the body to repair itself and grow stronger.

“Potassium: One of the electrolytes, important because it counteracts sodium’s effect on blood pressure.”

Why is this counteraction important you ask.  This tidbit from SlowItDownCKD 2011 explains:

“Then I found this in BrightHub.com’s February 13th article The Importance of the Potassium and Sodium Balance.

‘When there is potassium and sodium balance, cells, nerves and muscles can  all  function  smoothly.  With  an  imbalance,  which  is almost  always due to both an excess of sodium, and a deficiency of potassium, a set of reactions occurs leading to high blood pressure and unnecessary strain on blood vessels, the heart and the kidneys. Research has shown that there is a direct link between chronic levels of low potassium and kidney disease, lung disorders, hypertension and stroke’.”

And urea? The newly published SlowItDownCKD 2017 contains this information:

“http://www.patient.co.uk/health/routine-kidney-function-blood-test has the simplest explanation.

‘Urea is a waste product formed from the breakdown of proteins. Urea is usually passed out in the urine. A high blood level of urea (‘uraemia’) indicates that the kidneys may not be working properly or that you are dehydrated (have low body water content).’”

It’s probably common knowledge that serum means in the blood rather than urine and that uric acid is the waste that remains when your body’s cells die. What baffled me was RAAS and RPP. It turns out that RAAS is renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system which, while interesting, would simply take too long to explain for this blog’s purpose. RPF is renal plasma flow. I love words, but this was getting to be a bit much for even me. I wanted to get to CKD in pregnancy. So let’s do that.

Let’s say I needed more reassurance that I could have a baby even though I had CKD. I felt like I found just that when I discovered RareRenal  at http://rarerenal.org/patient-information/pregnancy-and-chronic-kidney-disease-patient-information/and what they had to say about pregnancy and CKD.

“Good antenatal care from the earliest stages of pregnancy improves outcomes generally. This is particularly true for women with CKD. Planning for pregnancy allows women with CKD to get pregnant at the right time, while on the right medications and in the best possible health. To achieve this all women with significant CKD should receive pre-pregnancy advice so that they can assess the potential risk and to ensure that everything is in place to minimise it.

These are the key things to think about before getting pregnant:

When should a woman with CKD get pregnant?  This depends on the nature of the kidney disease. In general if a woman’s kidney function is likely to get worse over time it is better to plan the pregnancy sooner rather than later while function is still good. On the other hand, for a kidney disease that flares up and then settles down, such as Lupus nephritis, it is better to wait until the flare has settled for at least six months. Other factors to take into account are a woman’s age and fertility. They may have had drugs in the past to treat a kidney condition that can impair fertility (e.g. cyclophosphamide). If so they may need to take advice on whether this is an additional problem. Should she get pregnant at all? There are very few women these days who are advised not to get pregnant. Even then it is always up to the woman (and her partner) whether to take the risk. It is much better to be forewarned of the possible problems and to discuss these in advance.

Will she need extra medicines when she’s pregnant?  Women trying to get pregnant should start taking the vitamin folic acid to reduce the chance of their baby having spina bifida, an abnormality of the spinal cord. The normal dose of folic acid is 400ug per day and can be bought over the counter. However, if the folate level is low or a patient is on the drug azathioprine which affects the way folic acid works, the dose of 5mg daily may be prescribed. No other over the counter vitamins are required unless specifically advised by a doctor or midwife. All pregnant patients should avoid additional supplements of vitamin A. If vitamin D levels are low GPs will advise correction with high dose prescribed vitamin D (also known as cholecalciferol). Women with kidney diseases are at higher risk of pre-eclampsia. Aspirin lowers the risk of pre eclampsia, and women with CKD are usually offered a low dose aspirin (75mg once daily) throughout pregnancy unless there are specific reasons not to take it e.g. they are allergic to aspirin. Pregnant women with a high level of protein in their urine have an increased risk of developing blood clots (thrombosis). This can be reduced by small daily injections of low molecular weight heparin. Heparin reduces the way the blood clots. Both pregnancy and CKD can cause a low blood count (anaemia). When combined, anaemia can be more of a problem. Iron tablets or injections may be used and some women need to take the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) as  a weekly or monthly injection to overcome the anaemia. Blood transfusions are usually avoided in pregnancy. Pregnancy alters the control of sugar (glucose) in the body. This may be worse for patients on steroids (e.g. prednisolone), those from an Asian or African background, or who are overweight. Patients may develop a condition called gestational diabetes (diabetes caused by pregnancy) and require treatment with insulin.” How very reassuring. I’m ready… I mean are you ready to have your baby?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Something’s Fishy Here

I saw this headline the other day: Another Nail in the Coffin for Fish Oil Supplements. When I read the article, I realized it was referring to fish oil supplements for heart problems. You can read it for yourself at  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2679051. By the way, JAMA is the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But then I wondered why I’ve been taking it all these years since I don’t have cardiology problems.  Hmmm, I do have osteoarthritis and can’t take NSAIDS. In What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, NSAIDS are explained this way:

“Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, aspirin, Aleve, or naproxen usually used for arthritis or pain management, can worsen kidney disease, sometimes irreversibly.”

Okay, so I don’t take NSAIDS or fish oil supplements for heart problems, but I do take fish oil supplements for osteoarthritis. Well, that’s good since my favored medical food for osteoarthritis – Limbrel – is still in recall by the FDA for possibly causing liver problems. Who wants both liver and kidney problems? Not me.

Anyhoo (as I’ve seen it written), that got me to thinking about osteoarthritis. This is from SlowItDownCKD 2016:

“According to The U.S. National Library of Medicine at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0024677/:

‘Arthritis is a general term for conditions that affect the joints and surrounding tissues. Joints are places in the body where bones come together, such as the knees, wrists, fingers, toes, and hips. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.”

I’ve since discovered there’s also psoriatic arthritis. All of these are inflammatory diseases. This is from this week’s newly published SlowItDownCKD 2017 (How about a review on Amazon.com or B&N.com as long as I’ve mentioned the book?):

“Arthritis is an inflammatory disease; psoriasis is an inflammatory disease; and Chronic Kidney Disease is an inflammatory disease. The common factor here is obvious – inflammatory disease.”

Bingo! I take the fish oil supplements for inflammation. Before I forget, inflammation is the topic of one blog or another – and usually several – in each of the books in the SlowItDownCKD series. Wikipedia’s definition helps to explain why:

“Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators. The function of inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out necrotic cells and tissues damaged from the original insult and the inflammatory process, and initiate tissue repair.”

Keep in mind, though, that anyone can edit a Wikipedia entry.

Since I’m writing about inflammation and CKD, I was thrilled to find this in The Book of Blogs: Moderate Stage Chronic Kidney Disease, Part 2:

“By the way, are you taking Omega 3 {Fish oil} supplements?  There’s a theory it helps retard the progress of CKD.”

Aha! Now to the heart… I mean the kidneys… of the matter. How do Omega 3 supplements retard the progress of CKD?

Let’s lead off our answer with this quote from the #NephMadness 2017: Nutrition Region article in the March issue of The American Journal of Kidney Diseases at https://ajkdblog.org/2017/03/07/nephmadness-2017-nutrition-region/

“There is some evidence that omega-6 is proinflammatory and omega-3 are anti-inflammatory.”

Of course there’s much more to the article, but it gets pretty technical.

“What’s omega-6?” you ask. I went to my long term buddy The Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/expert-answers/omega-6/faq-20058172 for some help in explaining.

“Your body needs fatty acids and can make all but two of them, which is why they are called essential fatty acids. Linoleic and linolenic acids are derived from foods containing omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, respectively, which serve different functions in the body. Some of these fatty acids appear to cause inflammation, but others seem to have anti-inflammatory properties.”

But we’re getting far afield from the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 that can help retard the progress of CKD. I decided to see what the natural health community had to say about this and discovered the following in Healthy Fellow at http://www.healthyfellow.com/742/fish-oil-and-kidney-health/ :

“However, based on what we know now, it seems that fish oil supports both cardiovascular and renal health in part by moderating blood pressure, heart rate and triglycerides in at-risk patients.”

This was back in 2011, but look at all it tells us. We know that hypertension is the number two cause of CKD. Moderating our blood pressure will (hopefully) slow down the progression of the decline of our kidney function. Kidney & Urology Foundation of America, Inc. at http://www.kidneyurology.org/Library/Kidney_Health/High_Blood_Pressure_and_Kidney_Disease.php explains this succinctly:

“High blood pressure makes your heart work harder and, over time, can damage blood vessels throughout your body. If the blood vessels in your kidneys are damaged, they may stop removing wastes and extra fluid from your body. The extra fluid in your blood vessels may then raise blood pressure even more. It’s a dangerous cycle.”

And heart rate? The conclusion of a study published in the Journal of Nephrology reads:

“Heart rate is an independent age-dependent effect modifier for progression to kidney failure in CKD patients.”

You can read the entire study at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232714804_Heart_rate_age_and_the_risk_of_progression_to_kidney_failure_in_patients_with_CKD.

Then there are triglycerides. I included this information from the American Kidney Fund in SlowItDownCKD 2012.

“Your triglycerides are also important. People with high triglycerides are more at risk for kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.”

I am convinced. I will be one of those who continues taking my fish oil supplements to get in that omega-3 which is going to help me with inflammation which – in turn – will help me slow down the progression in the decline of my kidney function. How about you?

We’re going to do this a little differently this time. To celebrate the publication of SlowItDownCKD 2017, the first person who hasn’t won a book giveaway yet and can correctly tell me if my new grandchild is a boy or a girl will win a copy of Portal in Time. I hope you like time travel romances.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Joy to the World

As Three Dog Night sang in Hoyt Axton’s song:

“Joy to the world
All the boys and girls now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me”

Turn up your speakers and give a listen. See if you don’t feel more joy just from listening. Thanks to Three Dog Night for placing that grin back on my face when it’s gotten lost… and to YouTube, too.

I’ve written about what stress, grief, and shock do to your body, but with recent events I have reason to wonder what happiness does to your body. The birth of our first grandchild has revealed levels of joy I never knew existed. Add to that our youngest’s engagement and you’ll find me floating at least three feet above the ground most of the time.

I did my usual poking around and found some answers.

Calgary Psychology at http://www.calgarypsychology.com/happiness/correlation-health-happiness has some information for us, although it’s not as recent as I’d like it to be since it was published in 2010:

“A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined the link between happiness and a number of health factors in 200 Caucasian adults, age 45-59 years, all of whom worked for the government in London, England. The study assessed each participant on a work day and weekend day, measuring them at work and play for a number of criteria including blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. Participants were measured under normal conditions and after a mental stress test. Under each condition participants ranked their happiness on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). There were no differences in happiness between people who were married or single, male or female or of varying socioeconomic status; however the happiest participants had the best results across the board for the health markers. I.e. happier people had lower heart rates, and an average of 32% lower levels of cortisol which can have a direct effect on other elements such as blood sugar.”

Cortisol? Anyone remember what that is? Let’s have a reminder, please. I found this in SlowItDownCKD 2016. It’s from Reference.com at https://www.reference.com/science/function-adrenal-gland-72cba864e66d8278.

“Cortisol is a hormone that controls metabolism and helps the body react to stress, according to Endocrineweb. It affects the immune system and lowers inflammatory responses in the body. …”

Want a little reminder about metabolism? I do. According to Dr. Ananya Mandal from News Medical Life Sciences at https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-is-Metabolism.aspx:

“Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism. Metabolism can be conveniently divided into two categories:

• Catabolism – the breakdown of molecules to obtain energy
• Anabolism – the synthesis of all compounds needed by the cells”

Aha! So joy or being happy helps the body produce the hormone that obtains energy and synthesizes what we need to live. Now I get it why I actually feel better physically when I’m happy. I was in the throes of bronchitis when my grandson was born and started getting better right away. Magic? Nope, just plain joy at work in my body.

Notice joy may have an affect via cortisol on your blood sugar, too. Blood sugar ? Why is that important? The following is from a study published in The American Journal of Kidney Disease that was included in SlowItDownCKD 2011

“Good control of blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and body weight can delay the loss of kidney

function.”

And lower heart rates? How does that help us? I’ve don’t think I’ve written about that so I hopped right over to my longtime favorite the Mayo Clinic at https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/heart-rate/faq-20057979.

“A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats a minute. Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness.”

Good news. Being happy – joyous in my case – is good for the heart, which automatically means it’s good for the kidneys since your heart health has a lot to do with your kidney health and vice-versa.

Let’s not forget that the lower levels of cortisol joy causes “lowers inflammatory responses in the body.” Chronic Kidney Disease is an inflammatory disease. I love it! Just by being happy, I’m helping myself with my CKD.

As the late night television commercials cautioned us once up on a time: But wait, there’s more. I turned to the Greater Good Science Center based at UC Berkeley. According to the website, they, “provide a bridge between the research community and the general public.”

That’s where I found this quote from a 2015 article at: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_happiness_is_good_for_your_health.

“Love and happiness may not actually originate in the heart, but they are good for it. For example, a 2005 paper found that happiness predicts lower heart rate and blood pressure. In the study, participants rated their happiness over 30 times in one day and then again three years later. The initially happiest participants had a lower heart rate on follow-up (about six beats slower per minute), and the happiest participants during the follow-up had better blood pressure.”

Oh, blood pressure. This is also called hypertension and is defined in What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease this way:

“A possible cause of CKD, 140/90mm Hg is currently considered hypertension, a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, too.”

That book was written in 2010. The guidelines changed in November of last year. Take a look at the infogram from the American Heart Association. I’ve also learned that hypertension is the second leading cause of CKD.

What’s the first? You guessed it: diabetes or blood sugar that is not controlled. I am overjoyed at the results of my poking around about joy. By being fully present to the joy in my life, by simply feeling that joy, while I personally can no longer prevent my CKD, I can further slow down the progression of the decline in my kidney function. Being happy is also helping to prevent diabetes from entering my life and working on keeping my blood pressure closer to where it belongs.

This joy just goes on and on for me. This year alone, it’s been celebration after celebration: birthdays, anniversaries, the birth, the engagement, triumphs for those I love. My list grows and grows. Why not consider a little joy for your body’s sake, if not for your mental state?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

Unforgetting Us

Again, and again you’ve heard me rant about why we, as CKD patients, are not diagnosed earlier so we can start treating our Chronic Kidney Disease with – at least – life style changes earlier. That could help us slow down the progression of decline in our kidney function. I maintain that if only my primary care physician had told me when he first noticed that 39% GFR, maybe I wouldn’t be in stage 3 of 5. Maybe those now on dialysis or searching for a transplant wouldn’t be in the position they are, either.

It looks like our doctors are starting to feel the same way. Thank goodness. As a CKD Awareness Advocate, I’ve met others with the same advocacy. Robin is a doctor who feels the same, and someone I consider a friend. When I read her article, I jumped at the chance to guest blog it since she has the understanding of the medicalese that can frustrate the rest of us. Without further ado, Dr. Robin Rose…

Doctor, doctor give me this news: Primary care and CKD

Nephrology News & Issues, March 2018
Robin Rose, MD

Everyone’s mind jumps right to end-stage renal disease and dialysis when kidney disease is mentioned, even among clinicians. By the time a patient needs dialysis, pathology has been smoldering, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Nephrology gracefully manages later-stage kidney disease, but it seems the incipient cases remain in the shadows. In general practice, kidneys are often ignored.

What I want to know is this: How can we effectively forge a path between nephrology and primary care — take the reins and together harness the epidemic, starting early while the pathology of the disease may be more easily addressed?

Too many patients and too many of their primary care providers are simply unaware of renal status. The staggering number of stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) cases dramatically dwindles by stage 4, and CKD exacerbates so many underlying pathologies. Morbidity leads to mortality, often without recognition of underlying kidney damage as the prominent culprit. With the worldwide nephrologist shortage, and clearly with the high cost of end-stage care, it may well be time to expand the renal education and early/moderate CKD clinical savvy in primary care.

Build CKD recognition

As a physician, I recognize pharmaceutical options as a small part of longitudinal CKD care. The point of early diagnosis is assisting patients with the arduous and necessary journey to lifestyle change. Primary care has embraced this supportive role for other diagnoses, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc. This type of synergistic/collaborative care — reinforcing specialist input, following each person with his or her myriad issues — is the perfect fit for CKD.

How do we communicate to make our generalist and specialist intent merge into one clear target — enhanced patient quality of life? How can we make this work — to commence having a serious problem-solving conversation?

The literature suggests early nephrologist involvement improves long-term outcomes. Proactive primary care offers longitudinal guidance for making the enormous lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, stress management, hydration, sleep and toxic exposures, while offering psychological counseling that is required to achieve such changes. The cross-over benefits for patients’ other diagnoses is well known.

This concept of primary care nephrology could unfold into clinical reality as a professional, collaborative cooperation. With the diagnostic refinement of the nephrologist, a primary care physician can guide patients with CKD with the balancing act of comorbidities, medication management and optimal kidney lifestyle.

Likewise, what this family physician recognizes as critically useful from the consulting nephrologist is the expert focus on pathology with a diagnosis and back-up. We must agree that things like diet, exercise, sleep, stress and toxins have longitudinal importance for our patients with CKD — important enough for the primary care physician to make time with motivated patients to assess and co-discover actionable adaptations. Comorbidities with time will certainly guide the process. The success of this requires supportive enthusiasm from the specialist.

Vision of collaboration

Here is an example: A 46-year-old perimenopausal working single mother, with a history 12 years prior of pregnancy-induced hypertension and diabetes, has moderate proteinuria and a creatinine of 1.2. A nephrology consult will crystallize her individual needs. A primary care plan will address medications, CKD lifestyle needs and illuminate the notable overlap of benefits for her other diagnoses.

During the course of four visits looking at her stress, relationship to food and exercise needs, she exhibits admirable motivation, paying attention to what and how she eats and enjoying a lunchtime walking program. Reinforcing these successes while addressing medications, diet, sleep, etc. every 3 months offers an opportunity to protect nephrons and proceed further in the adaptations needed.

At this time, nephrologists cannot assume this is taking place in all primary care settings. Primary care providers, guiding patients with CKD safely through commonplace medical scenarios — like infectious illnesses, traumatic injuries, surgeries, travel and stress — need to grasp a breadth of nephrology basics. Our patients with CKD are at increased risk of acute kidney injury. Astute protection means we save nephrons. This author would welcome renal rotations at all levels of medical training, with a facet of focus on longitudinal outpatient, early and moderate CKD care. This vision of collaboration, with a commitment to early diagnosis and intervention, offers the opportunity to learn how to guide patients to a less inflammatory lifestyle.

The urgency is there. Can we talk?

• For more information:
• Robin Rose, MD, is a semi-retired family physician with a long-time interest in chronic illness and the role of lifestyle, with an interest in incipient and moderate CKD as a current focus. She lives in Molokai, Hawaii.

Disclosure: Rose reports no relevant financial disclosures.

Here’s a suggestion. Why not bring this article to your primary care physician? It could be that renal disease has never really crossed his mind despite the fact that 90% of the 31 million people in the U.S. who have CKD are unaware they do. You may not benefit from this – already having been diagnosed – but the next patient may… and the one after that… and the one after that…keep going.

Until next week,

Keep living your life!