Kidneys and Kidney Diseases

The kidneys are organs which aim to filter out huge amounts of blood to produce 1-2 quarts of urine. They also perform the task of filtering out the excessive waste materials from the blood stream.

However, there can be cases when infection enters your bloodstream and affects your kidneys. This can cause serious kidney diseases such as cysts, stones and cancer.

Diabetes: What is it and how does it affect your kidneys?

Diabetes is a condition which is caused when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (Type 1 Diabetes) or when your body doesn t react to the insulin in a normal way (Type 2 Diabetes). The sugar in your food cannot be broken down effectively which can result in problems in your kidneys.

The glucose content in your blood causes considerable damage to the filters in your kidneys. When the filters in the kidney are damaged, a particular protein called albumin releases into your blood and your urine. The damage in the kidneys can affect the kidney function and obstruct the filtering out of wastes from the blood.

Thus, diabetes could be attributed as a major cause of kidney disease.

Managing Diabetes-

Managing diabetes is crucial to avoid kidney diseases. However, diabetes doesn t have a proper cure which is why it is even more important to take care of your health in such cases.

Here are a few ways in which diabetic patients can aim to be healthy and prevent kidney diseases:

Quit Smoking: Smoking increases diabetic complications such as nerve damage and heart strokes which can in-turn affect your kidneys  functions adversely. Hence, it is advisable to quit smoking to keep diabetes under control.

Healthy Meals: Opt for healthy meals which are balanced and packed with nutrients as they help in increasing the insulin function in your body. Foods such as green leafy vegetables, legumes, fruits and lean meat should be included in your meals.

Engage in Physical Exercise: A diabetic person needs to engage in physical exercise in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Obesity can increase your chances of complications and can be detrimental to your kidneys as well.

How Does Managing Diabetes Help Your Kidneys?

Cystitis is a condition which is characterized by bladder inflammation that is usually a result of bladder infection. This disorder is very common among women. The condition tends to get better in a few days without any treatment. In case of chronic cystitis, long term treatment may be required.

Symptoms
Common symptoms include excessive urination (may be dark in color) and a burning pain during urination. One might feel generally unwell, tired and may experience cramps in the lower abdomen. In case of children, there may be a rise in the body temperature, coupled with weakness and vomiting.

Causes

Engaging in sex (irrespective of whether one is using protection or not) can result in this condition.
Inserting objects such as tampons into the urethra to release the bladder can most definitely result in this condition.
Using contraceptive measures such as diaphragm.
It occurs when bacteria which is present in the bowel or on the skin comes in contact with the bladder via the urethra. Women are at an increased risk as their urethra is shorter and the anus is close to the urethra.
Homeopathy and Cystitis
Homeopathy is a system of treatment that is natural and holistic. It does not have any side effect like the other conventional treatments. The various homeopathic remedies for cystitis are  

Cantharis: Cantharis is a homeopathic remedy that is very effective in treating infections. In case of bladder inflammation and pain while urinating, this remedy is preferred. For cystitis with an inflamed bladder as the root cause, this remedy is very effective.
Apis Mellifica: In case of chronic bladder infection, Apis Mellifica is administered. It cures the inflammation and also gets rid of the swelling. This also helps in relieving any burning symptom that you may experience while passing urine.
Staphysgaria: Staphysgaria is a homeopathic remedy which is used to treat symptoms of cystitis that include a sharp pain in the urethra accompanied by involuntary discharge of urine. There may also be a constant urge to urinate.

Bladder Inflammation - Effective Homeopathic Treatment for it!

If your doctor ever diagnoses you with chronic kidney disease, he/she will give you two options to choose from. The first option is to undergo dialysis for the rest of your life, while the other option is to undergo a kidney transplant. While you may prefer avoiding a major surgery, such as a transplant, dialysis is not the best solution for your condition.

Here are some reasons why you should consider kidney transplant surgery over dialysis if you are looking for better health for the long-term:

1. Increases your life expectancy: What you may not know is that people on dialysis treatment have a severely reduced life expectancy. For instance, if you are 30 years old when dialysis starts, the treatment will keep you alive at most for 15 more years. Therefore, you may not even survive until your fifties with dialysis treatment for your damaged kidneys.

However, if you transplant a healthy kidney your life expectancy increases by 30 to 40 years. Keep in mind that kidneys from living donors are better and will help you live longer.

2. Eliminates the need for undergoing dialysis: If you choose dialysis over transplant surgery, you will need to undergo the treatment on a daily basis. This is not only costly but also affects your quality of life. For instance, a patient on dialysis will need to make special arrangements if he/she wants to go on a vacation with family so that his treatment continues even during the trip.

With a kidney transplant surgery, once you recover from the operation, you can live a normal life, without the need for daily treatment.

3. Lower cost of treatment: While you may think kidney transplant surgery is the costlier option between it and dialysis, you would be wrong to assume so. In kidney transplantation surgery, you pay a hefty amount at the time of the operation. However, in the case of dialysis, you pay smaller sums over very long periods. When you add up these small sums over 10-15 years of dialysis, you will find that transplantation is the cheaper option.

If you are young and have a long life ahead of you, kidney transplantation should be the first and foremost choice of treatment for chronic kidney disease. You can undergo dialysis while you wait for a donor and then receive a healthy organ.

Why Kidney Transplant Should Be Preferred Over Dialysis?

The condition of enlarged prostate occurs due to the enlargement of a man s prostate gland, with the passage in time. Also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), it is more common in men over the age of 60. Some cases might have symptoms and others may be symptomless. Although the causes are relatively unknown, it is evident that BPH is not a form of cancer, neither does it cause cancer. The prostate is located below the bladder and is responsible for producing the fluid needed by semen. The growth of the prostate tissue that is associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia begins near the inner prostate which is a tissue ring around the urethra. Its growth is generally inward.

Causes
It is of common knowledge that in males, the urine originates from the bladder and flows through the urethra. BPH is a condition where the prostate experiences a benign i.e. non cancerous enlargement which leads to blockage of urine flow through the urethra (the urinary duct). The resultant enlargement, caused due to the gradual multiplication of cells, subjects the urethra to extra pressure. Further narrowing of the urethra causes more contraction of the bladder, resulting in the urine being forcefully pushed out of the body.

With time, the condition leads to the bladder muscles gradually becoming thicker, stronger and oversensitive. Contraction occurs even due to the presence of small amounts of urine, giving rise to frequent needs of urination. At one point, the bladder muscle is unable to overcome the effects of the narrowed urethra. Due to this, urine does not pass properly and the urethra is not emptied.

Some of the common symptoms of enlarged prostate include:
1. Frequent urination
2. Urgency to urinate
3. Difficulty during urination
4. A slow or weak urinary stream
5. Requirement of extra effort to urinate
6. Interrupted sleep due to need of urination

Further risks
Sometimes, when the bladder is not emptied completely, a risk of urinary tract infections develops. Some other serious problems which can be a result of enlarged prostate include blood in urine, bladder stones as well as acute urinary retention (inability to urinate). In some rare cases, kidney and/or bladder damage might also result from such a condition.

Frequent Urination - Can it be a Sign Enlarged Prostate

Stone diseases are a part of health issues related to the urological system in our body. Depending on their position, they may be classified into kidney stones and ureteral stones. Stone diseases are extremely common in nature and if treated timely it does not cause much damage to the body.

Types of Stones in the Human Body:

There are four types of kidney stones and ureteral stones in the human body namely   calcium, uric acid, struvite and cystine. The main difference between kidney stones and ureteral stones is that of the location. Kidney stones are transformed into ureteral stones when they pass from the kidney into the ureter.

Warning Signs to detect Kidney and Ureteral Stones

Kidney stones may be present in your body but they do not cause any obstructions unless they move into the ureter. Symptoms to detect the presence of stones in your body include  

  Intense and shifting pain in the lower abdomen and groin
  Frequent and painful urination
  Presence of blood in urine
  Nausea and vomiting
  Frequent fever accompanied by chills

Modes of Diagnosis:

The following methods are used to diagnose kidney stones/ureteral stones in the body-

  Imaging Tests   X-rays and CT scans are used to detect the presence of bigger and smaller stones respectively.
  Urine Tests   They help to detect the presence of stone forming particles in urine thus helping to diagnose stones in the kidney.
  Blood Tests   They help display levels of calcium and uric acid in the blood and monitor the general health of kidneys.

Treatment of kidney/ureteral stones:

Treatment of stones depends on their size and severity. For smaller stones, doctors recommend drinking 2-3 litres of water per day that help in flushing out the stone through urine. Doctors also prescribe medicines which helps break down the stone and reduce pain.

If the stones are large in size and exhibit severe complications, then the urologist will resort to the following treatment procedures-

  Shock Wave Lithotripsy (SWL)   In this process, a machine called lithotripter is used which passes ultrasonic waves through the skin to break up the stone into smaller components. The shattered pieces then pass out of the body through the urinary tract.

  Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PNL)   This is an endoscopic method used to remove large stones, which are not possible to eliminate through SWL. This is an invasive procedure and general anaesthesia is done prior to surgery.

  Ureteroscopy   In this process, a ureteroscope is inserted into the urethra to locate the stone and a tool is used to break it into smaller pieces or is taken out as a whole.

Prevention of Kidney and Ureteral Stones

Certain lifestyle changes can go a long way in preventing stones in the body. Some of them include drinking lots of healthy fluids, reducing consumption of oxalate-rich foods and animal protein, reducing sodium intake and controlling one s body weight.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and taking prompt medical action in case of detection of stone lessens the harmful effect of kidney and ureteral stones in the body.

Stone Disease - All You Should Know About It!

The presence of blood in urine is known as Haematuria. It is categorized under 2 types:

    Macroscopic haematuria, which means the patient has seen blood.
    Microscopic dipstick haematuria, which means blood is identified by urine microscopy or by dipstick testing either in association with other urological symptoms (symptomatic microscopic haematuria) or during a routine medical examination. It has been variably defined as 3 or more , 5 or more or 10 or more Red Blood Cells (RBCs) per high - power field.

Urological and other Causes of Hematuria

    Cancer: Bladder, Kidney and Prostate Cancer
    Stones: Kidney, Ureteric
    Bladder Infections: Bacterial tuberculosis, infective urethritis Inflammation
    Interstitial Cystitis Trauma : Kidney, bladder, urethra, pelvic fracture causing urethral rupture
    Renal cystic disease: (e.g. medullary sponge kidney)
    Other urological causes: Benign prostatic hyperplasia, vascular malformations
    Other medical causes of haematuria: anticoagulation therapy (e.g. asprin, anti platelet therapy) Nephrological Causes: more likely in children and young adults, proteinuria; red blood cell casts.
    Urological investigations: Urine culture, urine cytology, cystoscopy, renal ultrasonography and intravenous Urography and CT Urography.

Management of haematuria depends on the cause as determined by the urologist.

Causes and Treatment for Hematuria

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