A complete guide to caring for your kidneys and maximizing your health. Kidney disease occurs when your kidneys are damaged and no longer function as well as they should. In the past, it was fatal, but thanks to new treatments, including dialysis and transplantation, people can live long and healthy lives. This book provides everything you need to know to help you cope with your kidney disease and maximize your health. Walter A. Hunt, a medical researcher who had kidney disease and received a kidney transplant, walks you through what science says about how you can take care of your kidneys, including what foods to avoid and what treatment options may be best for you. Also included are recommendations to help you sleep and feel better along with overall health advice. In this latest edition, Hunt adds new sections on emerging subjects, including * coping skills for caregivers * kidney disease in children * environmental causes of chronic kidney failure * conservative care for those who wish to decline treatment * related conditions like gout, depression, and sleep disturbances * diet after transplantation * how best to work with your care team * insurance issues * potential new treatments A useful guide for the healthcare professionals who work with individuals with kidney problems.

The kidney is innervated with efferent sympathetic nerve fibers reaching the renal vasculature, the tubules, the juxtaglomerular granular cells, and the renal pelvic wall. The renal sensory nerves are mainly found in the renal pelvic wall. Increases in efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity reduce renal blood flow and urinary sodium excretion by activation of 1-adrenoceptors and increase renin secretion rate by activation of 1-adrenoceptors. In response to normal physiological stimulation, changes in efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity contribute importantly to homeostatic regulation of sodium and water balance. The renal mechanosensory nerves are activated by stretch of the renal pelvic tissue produced by increases in renal pelvic tissue of a magnitude that may occur during increased urine flow rate. Under normal conditions, the renal mechanosensory nerves activated by stretch of the sensory nerves elicits an inhibitory renorenal reflex response consisting of decreases in efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity leading to natriuresis. Increasing efferent sympathetic nerve activity increases afferent renal nerve activity which, in turn, decreases efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity by activation of the renorenal reflexes. Thus, activation of the afferent renal nerves buffers changes in efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity in the overall goal of maintaining sodium balance. In pathological conditions of sodium retention, impairment of the inhibitory renorenal reflexes contributes to an inappropriately increased efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity in the presence of sodium retention. In states of renal disease or injury, there is a shift from inhibitory to excitatory reflexes originating in the kidney. Studies in essential hypertensive patients have shown that renal denervation results in long-term reduction in arterial pressure, suggesting an important role for the efferent and afferent renal nerves in hypertension.

This manual provides practical and accessible information on all aspects of general nephrology, dialysis, and transplantation. It outlines current therapies in straightforward language to help readers understand the treatment rationale, and does not assume extensive knowledge of anatomy, biochemistry, or pathophysiology. Consisting of 33 chapters written by 31 experts from four continents, this volume covers all the practical tips in the emergency and long-term management of patients with electrolyte disturbance, acid-base disturbance, acute renal failure, common glomerular diseases, hypertension, pregnancy-related renal disorders, chronic renal failure, and renal replacement therapy. It is thus an essential source of quick reference for nephrologists, internists, renal fellows, and renal nursing specialists, and is also suitable for graduate students and research scientists in the field of kidney diseases.