About Joanna Pendergrass Dvm
JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM, is a veterinarian and freelance medical writer in Atlanta, GA. After graduating from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine with her veterinary degree, JoAnna completed a 2-year research fellowship in neuroscience at Emory University. During this fellowship, she learned that she could make a career out of combining her loves of science and writing. As a medical writer, JoAnna is passionate about providing pet parents with clear, concise, and engaging information about pet care. Through her writing, she strives not only to educate pet parents, but also empower them to make good health decisions for their pets. JoAnna is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and Dog Writers Association of America.
What Should I Do If I Am Losing Weight Without Trying
If you continue to lose weight, you should discuss your diet with your dietitian. You may need to increase your portions or include more free foods. There may also be other reasons for your weight loss, which you should discuss with your doctor.
Your dietitian may also recommend a special nutrition supplement that is not a free food. These supplements provide extra calories and protein and are usually used for a short time.
What Are The Symptoms Of End Stage Kidney Failure In Cats
Sometimes, the signs of kidney failure in cats are not caught early enough and the disease progresses to its end stage. Symptoms of end stage kidney failure in cats include general symptoms listed above, as well as dull, sunken eyes, inability to walk, body odor, incontinence in bladder or bowels seizures, confusion, refusal to eat or drink, twitching, blindness, pacing and restlessness, withdrawing, hiding and running away.
Though more than one of these symptoms will be present, you may not see all of them. There may also be a sudden improvement in their symptoms, but do not let this fool you.
With kidney failure, there are no easy answers, as different symptoms may be present at different times. These symptoms can also be signs of other illnesses, which is why early diagnosis, disease management and communication with your vet is critical.
When it comes to symptoms of kidney failure in cats, the stage is key to prognosis. While there is no cure for chronic kidney disease, if its detected and treated early your cats longevity and quality of life can be improved.
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Chronic Kidney Disease: How Effective Are Diet And Exercise
Diet recommendations vary according to the stage of chronic kidney disease. If you pay attention to what you eat and drink, and get enough exercise too, you can have a positive impact on the course of the disease and improve your wellbeing.
A lot of metabolic processes depend on the performance of the kidneys: If your kidneys stop working properly, it causes an imbalance in your energy and protein metabolism, for instance. The levels of salts and fluids in the body are also affected. Advanced kidney disease may then cause serious complications such as weight loss, acidosis , and fluid retention in organs and tissue.
So people who have chronic kidney disease are advised to follow a number of dietary recommendations. Its often quite difficult to stick to this special “kidney-friendly” diet. But doctors and dietitians can help you to understand the recommendations and put them into practice. People who have chronic kidney disease often get used to these recommendations over time and use them as an opportunity to do something good for their wellbeing. Changes to your diet and exercise also have a positive effect on other medical conditions and risk factors, such as high blood pressure.
Symptoms Of Congestive Heart Failure
Symptoms of congestive heart failure revolve around the bodys inability to keep blood flowing. Depending on what stage a patient is at and how the disease is progressing, symptoms include:
Shortness of breath: Fluids can build up in the lungs, and blood can back up around the lungs. Shortness of breath can persist even while resting, especially while laying down.
Bloating: Since the heart cannot maintain the pressure needed to move fluids throughout the body, water retention increases and may cause bloating. Most commonly, this comes in the form of swelling in the ankles and feet.
Irregular heartbeats: The heart is struggling to move blood through the body and may skip beats or beat too quickly, even while resting, to catch up.
Dizziness and Fatigue: Because not enough blood is flowing through vital organs and to the brain, its common to feel fatigued. Dizziness, lightheadedness, or clouded thinking may also occur to a reduced oxygen flow.
Its important to note that congestive heart failure shares symptoms with many other heart problems and other diseases. While having one of these symptoms may not mean heart failure, its always best to speak with a doctor and ask for a heart check.
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How Is Kidney Failure Treated
While not curable, kidney failure in cats is treated using a range of therapies, with most aiming to reduce the kidneys workload, minimize waste products in the blood, replace lost nutrients, and manage clinical signs. Subcutaneous fluids are often administered to cats who have become dehydrated.
Chronic kidney failure is not curable. Treatment goals include reducing the kidneys workload, minimizing waste products from the blood, replacing lost nutrients, and managing clinical signs.
Treatments can generally be grouped into dietary changes and medications. Be aware that not every cat in kidney failure will need every available treatment.
When Your Child Has A Chronic Kidney Disease
Parents of kids who are diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease have many questions about what might happen next, how their child might feel, and what treatments are likely to be involved.
Four major areas of concern are blood pressure, diet, anemia , and growth. Kids may feel sick at times, need to take medicines, and watch what they eat and drink.
Read on to learn about treatments for kidney disease and what parents can do to help.
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What Is The Meaning Of Weight Loss For Stage 3 Ckd
In Stage 3 of Chronic Kidney Disease, many symptoms will appear on patients. Maybe some patients are suffering from weight loss, and they have no ideas about this phenomenon. Why does Stage 3 of Chronic Kidney Disease cause weight loss? You can get an understanding from the following article or email to to get more information.
Why does Stage 3 CKD cause weight loss?
Weight loss can be attributed to numerous causes. The root cause is the decline of kidney function.The decline of kidney function
For Stage 3 of Chronic Kidney Disease patients, their GFR is about 30%~59%. And it means their kidneys have been damaged moderately. With the decline of kidney function, kidneys no longer have fully functioned, and some clinical symptoms will occur, such as high blood pressure, weight loss, poor appetite, vomit, etc.
Malnutrition
In order to improve kidney function, patients in Stage 3 CKD should also have a strict diet limitation. A restricted diet is very likely to cause malnutrition, thus resulting in weight loss. For example, they should limit intake of protein and calorie, but a low in protein and calorie cannot satisfy the body needs. Thereby, malnutrition is a main cause for weight loss.
Poor appetite
What Is Peritoneal Dialysis
Peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of the abdominal cavity as the dialysis filter to rid the body of waste and to balance electrolyte levels. A catheter is placed in the abdominal cavity through the abdominal wall by a surgeon, and it is expected to remain in place for the long-term. The dialysis solution is then dripped in through the catheter and left in the abdominal cavity for a few hours after which, it is drained out. During that time, waste products leech from the blood flowing through the lining of the abdomen , and attach themselves to the fluid that has been instilled by the catheters. Often, patients instill the dialysate fluid before bedtime, and drain it in the morning.
There are benefits and complications for each type of dialysis. Not every patient can choose which type he or she would prefer. The treatment decision depends on the patientâs illness and their past medical history along with other issues. Usually, the nephrologist will have a long discussion with the patient and family to decide what will be the best option available.
Dialysis is lifesaving. Without it, patients whose kidneys no longer function would die relatively quickly due to electrolyte abnormalities and the buildup of toxins in the blood stream. Patients may live many years with dialysis but other underlying and associated illnesses often are the cause of death.
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Stages Of Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure occurs in four stages.
Stage 1 Pre-CHF
People with this stage of congestive heart failure have been diagnosed either because doctors noticed a weakness in the heart, or because the patient has another heart disorder that may lead to congestive heart failure. Usually, these patients show few to no symptoms, and life expectancy is high.
Stage 2
People at this stage of congestive heart failure may begin noticing symptoms however, these symptoms do not greatly affect the quality of life. These symptoms may be of congestive heart failure, or they may be of other conditions. Treatment for stage 2 congestive heart failure usually involves reducing stress and workload along with making lifestyle changes.
Stage 3
Typical patients with stage 3 congestive heart failure may notice their condition impacting their day to day lives. While exacerbated by other conditions, symptoms of congestive heart failure may prevent them from doing day-to-day tasks.
Stage 4
Stage 4 congestive heart failure experience debilitating symptoms which keep them from functioning on a daily basis. Treatment may require medical intervention in the form of surgeries, hospitalization, and medications.
What Can You Eat To Help Dissolve Kidney Stones
You can help prevent kidney stones from forming by making small changes to your childs diet. What is a kidney stone? A kidney stone is a small,
Understanding that, kidney specialists at three leading universities created Moonstone, an effective way to help prevent kidney stones and improve kidney health. Mixed with water, Moonstone both hydrates and delivers a daily dose of alkali citrate.
What you eat can contribute to the formation of kidney stones. So use this to your advantage and change your diet to help you get rid of them. Watermelon may help to dissolve kidney stones as it.
Consuming enough of the required vitamins and minerals is an essential part of eating a balanced diet. Although a varied diet usually provides the micronutrients a person needs, some people with.
Kidney disease is also known as renal disease and nephropathy. It means damage to or disease in the kidneys. It may lead to loss of kidney function and kidney failure which is the end-stage of.
For normal printing with prepared inks, the main hazard is accidental ingestion of pigments due to eating, drinking or smoking while.
peripheral nerve damage , kidney.
Potassium citrate can also be used to help dissolve and prevent uric acid kidney stones. Thiazide Diuretics. Your doctor may prescribe a thiazide diuretic,
May 1, 2019.
Kidney Stones are deposits of minerals and salt in your kidneys. Know about the symptoms of kidney stones, reasons of formation and how to.
Easy-to-eat pate texture.
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Food Tastes Like Metal
Why this happens:
A build-up of wastes in the blood can make food taste different and cause bad breath. You may also notice that you stop liking to eat meat, or that you are losing weight because you just don’t feel like eating.
What patients said:
Foul taste in your mouth. Almost like you’re drinking iron.
I don’t have the appetite I had before I started dialysis, I must have lost about 10 pounds.
Is There A Diet For Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease is a disease that must be managed in close consultation with a doctor. Self-treatment is not appropriate.
- There are, however, several important dietary rules one can follow to help slow the progression of kidney disease and decrease the likelihood of complications.
- This is a complex process and must be individualized, generally with the help of a health care practitioner and a registered dietitian.
The following are general dietary guidelines:
- Protein restriction: Decreasing protein intake may slow the progression of chronic kidney disease. A dietitian can help one determine the appropriate amount of protein.
- Salt restriction: Limit to 2 to 4grams a day to avoid fluid retention and help control high blood pressure.
- Fluid intake: Excessive water intake does not help prevent kidney disease. In fact, the doctor may recommend restriction of water intake.
- Potassium restriction: This is necessary in advanced kidney disease because the kidneys are unable to remove potassium. High levels of potassium can cause abnormal heart rhythms. Examples of foods high in potassium include bananas, oranges, nuts, avocados, and potatoes.
- Phosphorus restriction: Decreasing phosphorus intake is recommended to protect bones. Eggs, beans, cola drinks, and dairy products are examples of foods high in phosphorus.
Other important measures that a patient can take include:
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Unhealthy Weight Loss With Kidney Disease
While there are some benefits of weight loss with kidney disease, there is also a risk of losing the wrong kind of weight.
If weight loss happens too quickly or unintentionally, it may lead to other health complications.
Sarcopenia is when a person loses muscle mass. This happens with the elderly but can also happen in people with serious health concerns such as cancer, heart, failure, and chronic kidney disease.
Another term for unhealthy weight loss with kidney disease is protein-energy wasting . This term also refers to the body using up protein stores from muscles in order to keep up with energy needs.
Protein-energy wasting is quite common with chronic kidney disease, especially those with end stage kidney failure. In one article, they found that 54% of a group of dialysis patients fell into the classification of PEW.
For other stages of kidney disease, weight loss to the extent of PEW grew from less than 2% of stages 1-2 to 11-46% in stages 3-5.
Risks of weight loss with kidney disease
Weight loss, when unintentional, can increase risk factors for other health complications.
Kidney disease is a highly active state for the body, in which more calories are needed to keep up energy levels.
Uremia and inflammation, as well as often the autoimmune causes of kidney disease, all contribute towards this higher level of caloric needs of the body.
Significant weight loss
Significant weight loss is defined as weight loss exceeding in the following ranges:
What Are Clinical Trials And What Role Do Children Play In Research
Clinical trials are research studies involving people of all ages. Clinical trials look at safe and effective new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving quality of life. Research involving children helps scientists
- identify care that is best for a child
- find the best dose of medicines
- find treatments for conditions that only affect children
- treat conditions that behave differently in children
- understand how treatment affects a growing childs body
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The Case: Presentation Of The Case And Problems Related To It
A 71-year-old man, affected by stage 4 CKD, was referred to our nephrology unit in June 2013 for the prescription of a low-protein diet. He had been overweight since adolescence, and over the years his body mass index had ranged from 35 to 40 kg/m2. At referral to our unit, he weighed 110 kg and had a BMI of 37 kg/m2.
The first detection of urinary abnormalities had occurred ten years before, when he underwent a subtotal parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism. On the same occasion he was found to be hypertensive and anti-hypertensive treatment was started.
The clinical picture of obesity, mild hypertension concomitant with the first signs of kidney disease, sub-nephrotic proteinuria and obesity suggested obesity-related glomerulopathy. A kidney biopsy was not proposed at referral, as it was unlikely to change clinical management of the case. At referral serum creatinine was 5 mg/dL, estimated glomerular filtration rate , calculated using the CKD-EPI formula, was 23 mL/min, blood urea nitrogen was 75 mg/dL, with sub-nephrotic proteinuria . The patient was started on the moderately restricted low-protein diet we generally prescribe .
For obese patients we usually calculate an average between ideal and real body weights to determine the protein intakeâin fact, targeting to real weight would lead to a high protein intake, while targeting to the ideal weight is often an unreachable goal.
Are There Different Types Of Kidney Failure In Cats
There are two types of kidney failure in cats, and they differ in causes, treatment options and prognosis.
Acute Renal Failure
This type of kidney failure occurs suddenly, within days or weeks. It can happen in cats of any age and typically results from poisons, disorders, diseases, organ failure, medications and other causes.
Acute renal failure can often be reversed if caught in time.
Chronic Kidney Failure
With chronic kidney failure, the kidneys gradually stop working over months or years as they lose the ability to filter the blood of toxins. This type of kidney failure can lead to total kidney failure.
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What Is Shock Wave Lithotripsy
Shock Wave Lithotripsy is the most common treatment for kidney stones in the U.S. Shock waves from outside the body are targeted at a kidney stone causing the stone to fragment. The stones are broken into tiny pieces. lt is sometimes called ESWL: Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy®.
These are what the words mean:
- extracorporeal: from outside the body
- shock waves: pressure waves
- lithotripsy
So, SWL describes a nonsurgical technique for treating stones in the kidney or ureter using high-energy shock waves. Stones are broken into stone dust or fragments that are small enough to pass in urine. lf large pieces remain, another treatment can be performed