Low serum uric acid preventing kidney disease - Chronic kidney diseases and dialysis in Israel

Low serum uric acid preventing kidney disease




Low serum uric acid slows kidney disease
Doug Brunk writing in Rheumatology News reported
on a study presented by Dr. Gerald Levy at
the American College of Rheumatology meeting.
Data showed that patients who achieve a serum
uric acid less than 6 mg/dl showed a 37% reduction
in kidney disease progression.
Comment: Good news in that gout treatment
will salvage kidney function.
Bruce Jancin writing in Rheumatology News
reported on a study presented by Dr. Eswar
Krishnan at the Amercan College of Rheumatology
meeting. According to data compiled by the
National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey or NHANES as it is referred to, the
number of Americans with gout has climbed
sevenfold during the last 50 years. The increase
was most striking in men older than 65 years.
Comment: Gout is becoming an increasingly
common problem that is a real public health
issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYkLfnhJu18


Chronic kidney diseases and dialysis in Israel




CKD and Dialysis in Israel
The price patients pay
Ariela is preparing her dinner.
In awe, she removes the tomato
from the plastic bag.
Today, she decided to indulge herself
with an additional slice of tomato.
This is no trivial matter.
Ariela is a kidney dialysis patient.
One extra slice of tomato
can cause her body serious damage.
If I eat it at all, I eat two slices.
That's all.
I can steal some more.
I'm having dialysis tomorrow,
it'll get cleaned.
Ariela is one of 5,500
kidney patients on dialysis in Israel.
For those not familiar
with the disease,
it's difficult to explain what
this means for the patients.
Things which are trivial
for healthy people,
are taboo for dialysis patients.
For example, passing a vegetable store
and taking a few things home.
These are unreal, amazing.
I miss touching a strawberry,
eating a banana,
but it's suicide for me,
straight to the emergency room.
So is a tomato...
and forget about a potato.
It's as toxic as a banana.
It's the same thing.
With the approaching
World Kidney Day,
disturbing data is being published
in Israel indicating an increase
in kidney diseases in recent years.
In the past five years
there has been a 50% increase
in the number of patients
waiting for kidney transplants.
At the same time there's been
a 25% decrease in kidney donations.
For kidney patients,
this means that the hope
of returning to a normal life
is growing more distant.
1,000 of them will die
by the end of the year.
For a dialysis patient
one can simply say,
that he lives life
every other day.
Four times a week...
18 hours a week.
Figure out how much
that is in a month,
that's my job here
at Kaplan Hospital.
When this is what life is about,
it's hard to find many bright sides
to hold on to.
I'm divorced,
I have two wonderful sons,
Ben and Gur
who give me the will to live.
I'm... very...
Would you like to stop for a moment?
I'm very close to them
and they're my hope for living.
One out of every 10 Israelis
will be afflicted with kidney disease
during his lifetime.
It usually starts with diabetes
or high blood pressure.
Lack of follow up and treatment
of these conditions
can result in kidney damage.
From this point to dialysis
is only a matter of time.
I think there is always
place for improvement.
There is certainly place to improve
awareness among the general public
and among family physicians
on the importance of
follow-up on kidney functions
and the appearance of protein in urea
or any other symptom.
There isn't enough control today
and exposure of all those people
who should come in for a follow-up,
not necessarily to nephrologists
but at least for continued monitoring.
It's certainly lacking and there's
definitely room for improvement.
When reaching the dialysis stage,
there's only one direction,
transplantation or death.
On the way there,
they gradually lose their livelihood
and sometimes their self respect.
During the first year of dialysis,
I used to cover my face
so that no one would see me,
no one would discover me.
I didn't want anyone to know
that I was on dialysis.
I did everything quietly, secretly.
No, I'm not sick. I'm not sick.
I kept denying it.
The shame of not having money to buy
my grandson or granddaughter an outfit
or a birthday present.
But this is not
a predetermined fate.
Today it's possible to treat
chronic kidney diseases
through early detection
and preventive treatment
in the early stages of the disease.
Proper management of the disease
can save lives.
I think that more awareness is needed
for the public to go to doctors.
People who are at risk...
it's important to clarify this matter,
who should have checkups
more often than others,
are those with a family background
of kidney diseases,
diabetes or high blood pressure,
or smokers over the age of 50,
there is a connection to the disease.
We should pay attention
to a number of parameters.
First of all, kidney functions.
Are they normal or not,
and if not, have the family physician
refer you to a nephrologist.
Check urine tests,
which are very important.
The first warning signs
appear in blood tests.
Abnormal blood tests must be
referred to a nephrologist.
I think the message is clear.
andquot;Brought to you as a public service by
The Israel National Kidney Foundationandquot;
WWW.INKF.ORG.IL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-1BARRYOgg