Did you know that kidneys are one of the five essential organs for your survival? Your kidneys are located at the bottom of your rib cage, on both sides of your spine, and are the size of a fist. They perform several essential functions. Kidneys filter waste products, excess water, and other impurities from your […]
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All you need to know about chronic kidney disease and its treatment
A slow progression of kidney damage or kidney disease is referred to as chronic kidney disease (CKD). This disease usually does not show any significant symptoms at the beginning but as it progresses early signs start appearing. As per the National Kidney Foundation, CKD mostly remains asymptomatic until reach kidney failure. The disease cannot be […]
Anemia & Kidney Disease
Anemia occurs when there are not enough red blood cells in the body. Anybody can develop anemia, but it is very common in people with CKD. Anemia may begin to develop in the early stages of kidney disease when you still have 20 to 50 percent of your normal kidney function. Anemia tends to worsen […]
Top Doctors 2019: By Philadelphia Magazine
The Philadelphia region is a medical mecca, with world-renowned hospitals, medical schools, clinics and surgical centers. Philadelphia Magazine recently listed Top Doctors in with 2,642 physicians in 66 different specialties. There were 52 Nephrologists identified and Clinical Renal Associates (CRAL) had 9 of them. Only the University of Pennsylvania with 12, had more Nephrologists on the list. […]
The DASH Eating Diet
One of the toughest issues facing patients with high blood pressure/ hypertension are questions regarding what types of foods to eat. Patients are frequently told to avoid “salt” by their physician, but beyond that they receive little guidance in terms of how to achieve this. The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop […]
Kidney Transplant: What to Expect Throughout the Entire Process
Why Would I want to Get a Kidney Transplant? When your Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) gets severe enough, waste products and extra fluids build up in your body. Eventually, this gets so bad that your activities are limited and ultimately your kidney failure results in hospitalizations and death. Fortunately, dialysis is available to markedly improve […]
24 hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement (ABPM)
24 hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring or ABPM is a valuable tool for the management of the patient with hypertension (HTN). For the ABPM test, the patient is fitted with a specialized, blood pressure measuring device that records the blood pressure over a full 24 hour period. The BP measuring intervals are every 20 minutes […]
Dialysis Options: Making the Right Choice
Nephrologists (Kidney Medical Doctors) and patients with kidney disease work hard together to prevent kidney disease progressing to the point where dialysis is needed. Unfortunately, despite everybody’s best efforts kidney disease may progress to the point where dialysis is a serious possibility. Once kidney function is below GFR of 20 mL/minute which is usually referred […]
Phosphorus Control
Do Yourself a Big Favor and Control Your Phosphorus. Phosphorus is not removed by dialysis well. The phosphorus control in your body comes from the food you eat and drink. We measure the phosphorus in your blood and the level should be less than 5.5. If your phosphorus is higher than this, you should be […]
Diabetes Care in Dialysis Patients
A lot of dialysis patients have diabetes. If you do not have diabetes then you can skip this letter. Diabetic kidney disease is often the reason that a person needs dialysis. Once you are on dialysis, diabetes can still damage other parts of your body. You need to keep your diabetes well controlled to protect […]