Important things to know about kidney health: expert advice

– If there is no arterial hypertension and serious kidney disease (kidney failure), then water is very useful for the body, it allows the kidneys to reduce the concentration of harmful substances and remove them. Two liters is the total volume of liquid, including fruit drinks, teas, soups, that a person needs per day. People with kidney disease and arterial hypertension need to significantly limit the consumption of foods high in sodium – table salt. And if this is observed, then there will be no thirst and all the liquid will be excreted without the formation of edema.

– To answer the question, you just need to pass a urinalysis and also a biochemical blood test to determine creatinine and urea – these are indicators of kidney function. And if there are no deviations from the norm in these analyzes, you need to contact an endocrinologist. The nature of female edema is often associated not with kidney function, but with hormonal changes in the body.

– Most likely, you did not drink enough water, therefore, a high concentration of salts was formed, which the kidneys could not cope with. When losing weight, be sure to drink water! In general, you first need to be examined and find out whether your health allows you to lose weight. Indeed, with a diet, poor kidneys must excrete much more substances than usual. If there is a latent renal disease, and as a recent study by nephrologists has shown, there are 4% of such people in Moscow, the kidneys may not be able to withstand the additional load. I want to warn you that nephrologists identify such kidney pathology as Chinese herbal syndrome. There are kits of Chinese herbs for weight loss, which are banned in many countries, but are sold in our online pharmacies. Their use leads to serious diseases and kidney death. In addition, excessive weight loss leads to a decrease in adipose tissue in the kidney bed, which will contribute to nephroptosis – the prolapse of the kidneys, leading to impaired urine flow and, as a result, chronic kidney disease. I hope that the merciless fashion for thin people will pass. Renaissance artists admired large women, because they have a better chance of living to old age, giving birth to many children, they are the personification of health. Although, of course, excessive obesity is also a sign of ill health.

– Moderate doses, and this is about 12-14 grams of alcohol, that is, about 300 ml of beer or 100 ml of dry wine per day, is not considered harmful. But one should take into account not only the calorie content of alcoholic beverages, but also the content of liquid, sugar, potassium, phosphorus and sodium in them, the consumption of which should be limited to people with kidney disease. Alcohol even contributes to some improvement in kidney function, but only if you do not drink it systematically, but prolonged use of alcohol can lead to other serious diseases.

– In case of severe kidney pathology of uremia (this is the stage of renal failure), sleep is really disturbed due to intoxication, but other symptoms appear in parallel: general malaise, decreased appetite and performance. In the presence of a complex of symptoms, it is imperative to check the functioning of the kidneys. But if you only have insomnia, see a neurologist or psychotherapist.

– When the urge becomes so frequent that it interferes with life, it is worth contacting a urologist and gynecologist, passing a urine test, and excluding the presence of infection. This may be a pathology of the development of the small pelvis, so the situation must be dealt with.

– It is imperative to be examined! A high protein content may indicate a serious kidney disease that needs to be identified and treated. In general, any appearance of protein in the urine is the first sign of kidney problems. Normally, it should be no more than 0,033 g / l, that is, virtually zero. It happens that the protein appears when the temperature rises, but it should be no more than 0,5 g / l. If the malaise passed, but the protein remained, earlier in medicine it was believed that a cold caused a complication in the kidneys. Now doctors already know that either it was not a cold, but a more serious illness, or the patient was taking drugs that damaged the kidneys. For therapists, there is a golden rule: with values ​​above 0,5 g / l, send the patient to a nephrologist.

– Always, and when the daughter is going to give birth and become pregnant, she will need to be examined even more often. Hydronephrosis transferred in childhood (expansion of the renal pelvis and calyces due to impaired outflow of urine) in the future can lead to the appearance of an active infection – pyelonephritis. In all pregnant women, fetal growth can interfere with the flow of urine from the kidneys, as a result, the fluid stagnates and becomes a good breeding ground for microbes. Pyelonephritis is a common complication in expectant mothers. And your daughter already has a predisposition for him.

– The main thing is to restore the normal outflow of urine, for this you need to drink plenty of fluids, preferably with natural uroseptics, these are various renal teas, for example, with lingonberry leaves. Perhaps such measures will be sufficient. With active pyelonephritis, your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics. First, you will need to do a urine culture and determine the flora, that is, the bacterium that caused the inflammation, and then choose an antibiotic that acts specifically on it. Now there are drugs that will not harm the fetus.

– A cyst, the so-called acquired, usually appears after pyelonephritis unnoticed and transferred on the legs. The young man thought that he had a cold, he was chilled, he often ran to the toilet, but continue to go to work. And after 10-20 years, a small cyst appears. It was not a cold, but a urinary tract infection – pyelonephritis. As a result, a piece of tissue in the kidney, where the focus was located, seemed to burn out and was replaced by a cyst. Remember that chills are always present with pyelonephritis. If he appears, you must immediately run to the doctor and take a urine test. But there is also a hereditary kidney disease, the main manifestation of which is a large number of cysts in the kidneys. In this case, it is simply necessary to be constantly monitored by a nephrologist.

– First you need to do a CT scan – computed tomography, which shows the composition of the cyst. If it contains only liquid, you do not need to do anything, only monitor the cyst on CT scan once every six months. If tissue appears in the cyst or the walls begin to thicken, it is better to remove it. Unfortunately, cysts can degenerate into tumors. And timely treatment can give a complete cure.

– Cysts can grow to a large size, there is nothing to worry about. But if it begins to squeeze the ureter, pelvis, kidney calyx and disrupt the normal outflow of urine, then it must be operated on. There is also a risk of cyst rupture. In these cases, examination and consultation with a urologist is necessary.

– I believe that it is impossible to prohibit giving birth. My profession is to help, but I must also tell about all the risks. In our city clinical hospital No. 52, women who are on hemodialysis and after kidney transplantation give birth. We help them. But they had no children. They have experienced for themselves what a chronic kidney disease is, and they decide to take this step consciously. You should understand that if you have kidney failure, the fetus may not ripen quite correctly and the baby may be born with certain changes, maybe after childbirth, you yourself will need hemodialysis. It is necessary to weigh everything and make the right responsible decision, how much you need a child with such possible consequences.

– You are already on the verge of renal replacement therapy. If the GFR falls below 15, then it will be necessary to prepare for it. But, given the not very high values ​​of uric acid and creatinine, you have every chance of five, seven, or even ten years to live with your own kidneys and feel good. To do this, you must follow a strict and controlled diet. If we consume more protein than the body needs, the kidneys do not have time to excrete its decay products and the person feels bad. So the first step is to limit your protein intake. Examine which foods contain it. You probably didn’t know that there is protein in bread and pasta. Moreover, for example, in Italian pasta there is a lot of protein, up to 15% of the composition, and in Russian it is much less. Salt shakers should not be in the house. Eliminate all salty foods, including cheese and smoked meats. The main mistake is that patients stop consuming protein, but do not monitor the calorie content of food, so they begin to lose weight and feel bad. You should eat foods high in calories, such as unsalted lard, if pork, fat tail fat is not suitable for you. These foods are rehabilitated and contain healthy fats. Be sure to keep a food diary, recording how much protein and calories you eat each day. A day should be 35-40 kilocalories and 0,4-0,6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

– Yes. A person who is born prematurely, even if he looks big and handsome, is much more likely to develop chronic kidney disease. There are amazing formations in the kidneys – nephrons that filter urine, return the substances we need back, and remove harmful ones from the body. Normally, a genetically healthy person should have about a million nephrons. From the age of 25, their number gradually decreases and by the age of 50 it is reduced to half. And premature babies already have half of them at birth. Other risk factors are arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Many people live with high blood pressure, some say that they feel fine at 160, others that they can endure a periodic headache. But at a pressure of more than 140 to 90 in the kidneys, normal tissue is replaced by sclerotic tissue, which cannot work. People think that diabetes is now defeated. Yes, doctors select effective insulin regimens. But some patients lose control of their sugar levels. And high sugar also leads to kidney hardening. Smoking kills the small vessels of the kidneys. Few people know that any pain relievers are poisonous to the kidneys! Even the most common analgesics advertised on TV. People, instead of figuring out why they have a headache, grab onto pills. It’s like in Balzac’s novel “Shagreen Skin”. The desire was fulfilled – the skin shrank. Smoked or drank an anesthetic – the amount of healthy tissue in the kidneys decreased, their life expectancy decreased. This usually does not happen instantly, but stretches out over the years. Then at one point the person is in a hospital bed. There are many risk factors, these are the main ones.

– The kidneys are the most patient organ, they faithfully serve a person, not showing that they themselves burn out, failures occur in them. Indeed, it often happens that a person learns about the disease only when he is in intensive care, when 70% of the organ is no longer working at all. Of course, in the 60st century we will not let him die, but his quality of life will seriously decline. The person will have to go to the hemodialysis procedure every other day (connection to an artificial kidney machine), and, if possible, he will undergo a kidney transplant. But you can catch the disease at the very beginning and then save the kidney! And for this you need to monitor your health. If you go on any business to the clinic, pass a general urine test (to find out if there is protein) and blood for biochemistry with indicators of creatinine, urea, calcium, phosphorus and glomerular filtration rate – GFR. An important indicator of GFR evaluates the excretory capacity of the kidneys. If it is below 45 milliliters per minute, you should go to the nephrologist, but if it is below 7, then you need to run to the doctor as quickly as possible. At these values, changes in kidney function are already taking place. Educational work in Moscow is necessarily carried out every year on World Kidney Day. In two weeks, nephrologists (in Moscow, there are such highly qualified kidney specialists in every district) will go to the people: on March 8 they will conduct additional patient visits at polyclinics, and on March XNUMX, the Nephromarathon will be held in Krasnaya Presnya Park. By the way, for this day, we, nephrologists, are preparing brochures with recipes for healthy kidney dishes.

– Meat is necessary for a person to build a body, and its processing leads to high energy costs. With age, the body already ends construction, but energy is required. And this energy is obtained from vegetables, herbs, vegetable fats: sunflower, olive oil. Remember the Caucasian tables. There is a lot of meat, but even more fresh vegetables, herbs and dishes from them. The principle of a balanced diet is to limit proteins, increase plant foods. The plate should contain one quarter of the meat and three quarters of the vegetable side dish. Another important point. Everyone is convinced that phosphorus is useful, and nephrologists call it an invisible killer. If it accumulates in the body, it flushes calcium from the bones, as a result, the bones become fragile, and the associated phosphorus and calcium are deposited in the walls of blood vessels. Vessels that have lost their elasticity can lead to stroke and heart attack. The next myth: there is a lot of phosphorus in fish. In fact, the most phosphorous product is Coca-Cola! A huge amount of phosphorus is included in all modern long-term storage products: preservatives, beautiful vacuum packaging, in sausages, sausages, cheeses. Such food also contains deposits of salt and other toxic substances. It is not for nothing that eco-recreation in small villages, where tourists are fed with fresh products grown there, is gaining more and more popularity abroad. It is a food that supports health. The most useful food for today is the one that was in Russia back in the XNUMXth century: natural, without salt, spices, preservatives.