Published on June 11th, 2015 | by Herbert T0
Struggle against Polycystic Kidney Disease – part 2
This is a post from Herbert, a friend of mine, that today will be our guest blogger.
This is about his mother, who suffered from Polycystic Kidney Disease.
The Story of My Mother – part 2
read part 1 here
Polycystic Kidney Disease or PKD is a disorder of kidney which is generally inherited. PKD can be characterized by the presence of fluid filled cyst present in both the kidneys.
Initially, in the early stages these cysts are found only in one kidney, but, in most cases these cysts get spread in both of the kidneys during the adulthood. These cysts increases to large numbers and thus lead to enlargement of kidneys.
Research results say that PKD is among the four main reasons of kidney failure.
It is one of the most widespread inherited diseases which are life threatening in nature.
Polycystic Kidney Disease in most cases damages liver and pancreas. In some unusual cases it can even affect heart and brain.
Types of Polycystic Kidney disease
There are three types of PKD that are commonly found in kidney patients.
- The most common of these kidney diseases which are found in about 90 percent cases is, Autosomal Dominant PKD. There is a 50 percent chance of inheriting this kind of PKD if any one of the parents already bears it. Few symptoms of these kinds of diseases are can be seen in earlier ages. Symptoms become more prominent between the ages of 30 to 40.
- Another type of PKD is Autosomal Recessive PKD. It is a very rare kind of disease. It gets passed to the child only if the genes of this disease are carried by both the parents.
- Acquired Cystic Kidney Disease (ACKD) is a disease which occurs to patients who are already suffering from other kind of kidney disease. Thus, these are not inherited. Those who have already suffered from kidney failure commonly get affected by ACKD. ACKD is commonly found in aged people with kidney diseases.
Treatment plans for Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) patients
The doctor told us that her disease was not in its early stage. However, he suggested us a few treatment plans.
We were informed that Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease does not have a permanent cure or development of cysts cannot be stopped.
Formation of those cysts can be controlled through several methods.
This disease leads to problems like high blood pressure, pains and kidney stones which can be managed.
- High blood pressure: It is usually treated with medications. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin-2 receptor blockers (ARBs) are two highly used medications for this purpose. As far as food habit is concerned, certain changes are required to make, like cutting down salt intake in daily life.
- Pain: In order to treat pain the underlying reason has to be figured out first. It may be because of kidney stone or urinary tract infection. Pain killers can be taken depending on the intensity of the pain. For lesser pain one can opt for paracetamol, while for a more severe case one can go for tramadol. It is often recommended to avoid a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug as, it may disturb the kidney function or it may even cause problems in the treatment of high blood pressure. Large cysts are often drained out to give relief from the pain caused due to the pressure.
- Kidney stones: During the time of urination, small stones are most likely to pass out of the body. Drinking plenty of water is important to flush out the stone into bladder and increase the flow of urine. However, if the sizes of those stones are too big they can be removed naturally by certain treatments.
- Urinary Tract Infections: It is essential that if one feels the symptoms to urinary tract infections, one should immediately rush to the doctor. Otherwise, there is high chance of spreading in the cysts of kidney. It is often treated by a course of antibiotic for 7-14 days. If however, cysts get infected, treatment becomes much more difficult as, antibiotics cannot penetrate.
However, while my mother was going through these treatments…
Keep on reading: part 3