From The Los Angles Loyolan, by Michael Peters, Digital Intern
I am not a vegetarian. For the last few months, however, I have endured a diet outlawing meats of all kinds – beef, fish, chicken, pork, turkey. But these habits extend beyond that of mere vegetarianism. Due to my declining kidney function, for the better part of 20 weeks I have been on a low-sodium diet.
I have polycystic kidney disease, which means that my endocrine system is littered with perpetually-filling sacs of fluid. Due to this genetic disorder, my kidneys roll through a never-ending state of deterioration. In order to slow this process, I must refrain from eating most foods with substantial amounts of both sodium and potassium.
Like plenty of health diets, this one limits obvious salt monsters such as soda, french fries, potato chips as well as meat. However, when tackling one’s sodium levels, one quickly learns how many other seemingly-innocent food items can be equally guilty of housing a plethora of these not-so-helpful ingredients.
Violators come in all forms and from every food group. Fruits to stay away from include the Vitamin K-riddled bananas and their favorite comedic partner, oranges. Dark greens, such as kale, count among the vegetable offenders, much to my disappointment. Most nuts are held in a weary gaze, and almost all dairy is off-limits.
So what does this leave for me to enjoy? Essentially, all that is left is white bread, apples and a few veggies such as carrots. However, all hope is not lost. Balance is essential. For instance, since I no longer eat meat, perhaps a couple days per week I may be allowed a portion of peanuts or eggs to maintain protein. I cut soda and orange juice from my meals, so I can occasionally appreciate milk in my cereal. Instead of an ironclad resolution against taste, redistribution is necessary.
Still, many kidney patients find the transition to this diet off-putting and near-Herculean; I absolutely agree. For someone who has enjoyed burgers his entire life, the sudden absence of meat was a startling transition, and the inability to enjoy other delicacies such as most desserts, pasta sauce or even cheese can extensively bear down on one’s resolve.
The task can be daunting, but it is not insurmountable. I recognize that my health is crucial, and even though I can be sorely tempted to return to the Quarter Pounder’s embrace, I know my kidneys would never forgive me for it. Therefore, I shall continue to remain not-quite-vegetarian as long as is required.
The impending burden of kidney disease
I have polycystic kidney disease, which means that my endocrine system is littered with perpetually-filling sacs of fluid. Due to this genetic disorder, my kidneys roll through a never-ending state of deterioration. In order to slow this process, I must refrain from eating most foods with substantial amounts of both sodium and potassium.
Like plenty of health diets, this one limits obvious salt monsters such as soda, french fries, potato chips as well as meat. However, when tackling one’s sodium levels, one quickly learns how many other seemingly-innocent food items can be equally guilty of housing a plethora of these not-so-helpful ingredients.
Violators come in all forms and from every food group. Fruits to stay away from include the Vitamin K-riddled bananas and their favorite comedic partner, oranges. Dark greens, such as kale, count among the vegetable offenders, much to my disappointment. Most nuts are held in a weary gaze, and almost all dairy is off-limits.
So what does this leave for me to enjoy? Essentially, all that is left is white bread, apples and a few veggies such as carrots. However, all hope is not lost. Balance is essential. For instance, since I no longer eat meat, perhaps a couple days per week I may be allowed a portion of peanuts or eggs to maintain protein. I cut soda and orange juice from my meals, so I can occasionally appreciate milk in my cereal. Instead of an ironclad resolution against taste, redistribution is necessary.
Still, many kidney patients find the transition to this diet off-putting and near-Herculean; I absolutely agree. For someone who has enjoyed burgers his entire life, the sudden absence of meat was a startling transition, and the inability to enjoy other delicacies such as most desserts, pasta sauce or even cheese can extensively bear down on one’s resolve.
The task can be daunting, but it is not insurmountable. I recognize that my health is crucial, and even though I can be sorely tempted to return to the Quarter Pounder’s embrace, I know my kidneys would never forgive me for it. Therefore, I shall continue to remain not-quite-vegetarian as long as is required.
A study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases projects that the number of new cases of chronic kidney disease (pre-dialysis) will grow significantly through 2030. More than half the U.S. adults aged 30 to 64 years are likely to develop CKD.
Treating kidney disease has become an expensive entitlement for the federal government. While employing various payment strategies over the last four decades to control costs, the number of patients in the ESRD Program has grown significantly. When the Nixon administration signed off on Medicare legislation establishing the program in 1972, it estimated a $35 million annual cost – and most of that would be recoup as people went back into the workforce.
That hasn’t exactly happened, and the cost of the program has mushroomed to around $16 billion a year. There is some justification for that – we suspect lawmakers in 1972 didn’t picture the more complicated patient that gets their kidneys cleansed today: those with diabetes, congestive heart failure, people arriving in the ER needing a temporary catheter and dialysis immediately. Half of the program’s costs are generated on the Part A side: hospitalizations.
Understanding CKD
The National Kidney Foundation, through its Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative, built the algorithm using a patient’s GFR to define the five stages of kidney disease, with increased progression from 1 to 4 and 5 being kidney failure. But we really don’t dedicate the resources to using it and making it valuable; patients don’t get referred to a nephrologist early enough. It’s like being on a fishing boat out in the ocean trolling for tuna with a spinning rod. The opportunity is there; the tools are not.
It’s coming for many of us
For U.S. adults aged 30 to 49, 50 to 64, and 65 years or older with no CKD at baseline, the study showed that residual lifetime incidences of CKD are 54%, 52%, and 42%, respectively. The prevalence of CKD in adults 30 years or older is projected to increase from 13.2% currently to 14.4% in 2020 and 16.7% in 2030.
The risk for CKD in this younger age group is significant, the authors note. “This compares to lifetime incidences of 12.5% for breast cancer in women, 33% to 38% for diabetes, and 90% for hypertension in middle-aged men and women.” [Read more]
MEDICAL researchers have launched a global quest for an affordable dialysis machine after an Australian-led study revealed a staggering toll from treatable kidney disease.
The research, published this morning in The Lancet, found that at least 2.3 million people were dying each year because they could not access dialysis or kidney transplants. The toll could be as high as 7.1 million, with most of the victims in Asia.
“The numbers we’ve seen are breathtaking, especially in our region,” said co-author Martin Gallagher of the George Institute and University of Sydney.
The study, the first comprehensive analysis of chronic kidney disease across the planet, found that about 2.6 million people received dialysis or kidney transplants in 2010. But up to 9.7 million missed out, mostly in developing countries.
Lead author Vlado Perkovic, also with the George Institute, said kidney failure rates were projected to grow rapidly.
“Millions of people appear doomed,” he said.
Cost is a major factor in the developing world, with most people unable to afford the $26,000-$100,000 annual bill for dialysis.
But the costs are increasingly prohibitive for rich countries too, totalling $1 billion in Australia.
“The impact on health expenditure is vastly disproportionate to the numbers of people who use it,” the institute said.
Specialists have called for kidney disease to be made a global health priority.
And the George Institute has teamed up with three overseas research organisations to offer a $100,000 prize to the designer of the first low-cost dialysis machine.
The winning entry would need to meet safety standards, run off solar power, purify water on the spot and cost $1000 to make.
Current machines cost up to $20,000, with water purification systems costing as much again.
But Professor Perkovic said the machines were “hugely” overpriced. “Dialysis has been around for half a century, yet the technology hasn’t evolved substantively,’’ he said. [Read more]
From Local 12, Cincinnati, Ohio, Liz Bonis
Three days a week, three hours a day; that's how often Allen Walls sits hooked up to a dialysis machine. He has been on dialysis for two years.
Dialysis filters the blood when a person’s own kidneys can't. He said in hindsight he remembers early warning signs he just didn't know they were signs his kidneys were giving up. Walls said, “I sure do, it was itching, a funny taste in your mouth; a little anemic, tired you know. But I never put it all together, I guessed it was something else but not kidney disease.”
Part of the reason that he has chosen to share his story was not so people feel like dialysis or end stage renal disease will happen, it's so people don’t. There are some simple tests that anyone could take to know the early warning signs. Intervening early could save a person’s kidneys but more importantly their life.
Perry Malloy-Hall, community outreach manager, said, “There are three easy tests that you do consisting of a BMI, a blood pressure and a urine test.” Malloy-Hall and Brenita Brooks are part of a team with the National Kidney Foundation which offers the tests through special screening days at no charge. They check blood pressure to see if it's at least below 140 over 90,
BMI to see if a person’s weight may be putting your kidneys at risk, and since foods people eat have protein their kidneys should filter out of the body they test the urine for spillage of protein. If a person’s kidneys are spilling protein it’s a sign they have issues.
Brooks said, “I say all the time that the kidneys is the most underrepresented organ in the body and most people are not aware of it until it's too late; until your kidneys fail.” Allen Walls is now on the transplant waiting list. He said kidney failure often results from problems people can prevent. And that's why it’s so important for people to get the simple tests to see if they do have kidney disease.”
Gift of Life
From Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Times, British Columbia, Canada, by Troy Landreville
Kidney transplant changes life of Pitt Meadows resident
Westport woman receives kidney from former teacher
Kindergarten teacher Jen Giannino gave a former student one of her kidneys.
Tuesday marks three months since a Westport woman received a life-saving gift from her former teacher.
Sammy Brownlow, 21, says she was born with a number of congenital issues, polycystic kidney disease among them. She knew that a transplant would eventually be needed, but her parents were not viable donors.
Jen Giannino, Brownlow's former kindergarten teacher, stayed in touch with her.
Gift of Life
From Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Times, British Columbia, Canada, by Troy Landreville
With Kidney Health Month in Canada upon us, Pitt Meadows resident and kidney transplant recipient is urging people to consider becoming an organ donor.
Phil Rosario jokes that he could apply for dual citizenship, because he has a little bit of American in him.
The 40-year-old Pitt Meadows resident is forever connected to Scott Dudley, the mayor of Oak Harbour, Wash., after Dudley donated one of his kidneys to Rosario.
It was a life-changing transplant for Rosario, who three years ago was diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a life-threatening, genetic disease that causes multiple cysts to form on the kidneys, resulting in massive enlargement of the kidneys – up to three to four times their normal size.
Between 4,500 and 9,200 people in B.C. are impacted by ADPKD, a condition which leads to deterioration of kidney function and in some cases, kidney failure.
If not for the transplant, Rosario believes he’d be on dialysis for several years to come.
“What Scott did, it’s unbelievable,” Rosario said.
The wheels for the transplant were set in motion when Rosario’s ex-wife (and still good friend) Keesha, an active Rotarian, shared his story to fellow Rotarians during a 2011 meeting in Washington State.
Dudley, Rotary Club of North Whidbey Island Sunrise – Past President, was at the meeting and offered to be Rosario’s donor. The mayor had witnessed firsthand the long-term impact of ADPKD as several of his family members had the disease.
“She had no idea Scott was there or who Scott was, or what his background was,” Rosario recalled. “His ears perked up when he heard ADPKD and he approached her at the end of the evening and said, ‘I want to be your husband’s donor.’ He doesn’t have the disease. His family is riddled with it, but he is fine. He’s a humanitarian, a true Rotarian… it was fate, I guess.”
Rosario received his kidney transplant on May 14, 2012, one day prior to his birthday.
He is one of the lucky ones.
More than 350 people in B.C. are on the waitlist for a kidney transplant, and the median wait time for a donated kidney is 4.8 years, but more than 50 per cent of dialysis patients do not survive past four years.
From the moment they met, he and Dudley have been close friends.
“I don’t even thank him anymore because he knows,” Rosario said. “We have a great rapport. He’s adopted me as family and I’ve certainly adopted him and everyone in his family, over there.”
Life before the transplant was grim. Rosario’s kidneys were operating at low percentages so he was extremely fatigued, every day.
He slept half the day, and was light sensitive. Even a task as simple as taking out a screw above his head, he’d have to get someone to do that for him because he couldn’t hold his arms up.
The transplant gave Rosario a new lease on life. The entrepreneur is able to go to work every day and manages to squeeze cardio workouts into his schedule.
“My life isn’t so strained anymore,” Rosario said. “I’m happy, I appreciate the little things, every day, now.”
Rosario has three kidneys in his body and two of them are not functioning. [Read more]
Phil Rosario jokes that he could apply for dual citizenship, because he has a little bit of American in him.
The 40-year-old Pitt Meadows resident is forever connected to Scott Dudley, the mayor of Oak Harbour, Wash., after Dudley donated one of his kidneys to Rosario.
It was a life-changing transplant for Rosario, who three years ago was diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a life-threatening, genetic disease that causes multiple cysts to form on the kidneys, resulting in massive enlargement of the kidneys – up to three to four times their normal size.
Between 4,500 and 9,200 people in B.C. are impacted by ADPKD, a condition which leads to deterioration of kidney function and in some cases, kidney failure.
If not for the transplant, Rosario believes he’d be on dialysis for several years to come.
“What Scott did, it’s unbelievable,” Rosario said.
The wheels for the transplant were set in motion when Rosario’s ex-wife (and still good friend) Keesha, an active Rotarian, shared his story to fellow Rotarians during a 2011 meeting in Washington State.
Dudley, Rotary Club of North Whidbey Island Sunrise – Past President, was at the meeting and offered to be Rosario’s donor. The mayor had witnessed firsthand the long-term impact of ADPKD as several of his family members had the disease.
“She had no idea Scott was there or who Scott was, or what his background was,” Rosario recalled. “His ears perked up when he heard ADPKD and he approached her at the end of the evening and said, ‘I want to be your husband’s donor.’ He doesn’t have the disease. His family is riddled with it, but he is fine. He’s a humanitarian, a true Rotarian… it was fate, I guess.”
Rosario received his kidney transplant on May 14, 2012, one day prior to his birthday.
He is one of the lucky ones.
More than 350 people in B.C. are on the waitlist for a kidney transplant, and the median wait time for a donated kidney is 4.8 years, but more than 50 per cent of dialysis patients do not survive past four years.
From the moment they met, he and Dudley have been close friends.
“I don’t even thank him anymore because he knows,” Rosario said. “We have a great rapport. He’s adopted me as family and I’ve certainly adopted him and everyone in his family, over there.”
Life before the transplant was grim. Rosario’s kidneys were operating at low percentages so he was extremely fatigued, every day.
He slept half the day, and was light sensitive. Even a task as simple as taking out a screw above his head, he’d have to get someone to do that for him because he couldn’t hold his arms up.
The transplant gave Rosario a new lease on life. The entrepreneur is able to go to work every day and manages to squeeze cardio workouts into his schedule.
“My life isn’t so strained anymore,” Rosario said. “I’m happy, I appreciate the little things, every day, now.”
Rosario has three kidneys in his body and two of them are not functioning. [Read more]
From Connecticut News12
Tuesday marks three months since a Westport woman received a life-saving gift from her former teacher.
Sammy Brownlow, 21, says she was born with a number of congenital issues, polycystic kidney disease among them. She knew that a transplant would eventually be needed, but her parents were not viable donors.
Jen Giannino, Brownlow's former kindergarten teacher, stayed in touch with her.
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