Polycystic Kidney Disease
Sydney Millman
Polycystic kidney disease is a condition that affects approximately 1 in 1000 people in North America. The disease causes multiple clusters of cysts around the kidneys and sometimes other organs such as: the liver, pancreas, spleen and ovaries. In the early stages, the cysts cause the kidney’s to swell, which disrupts kidney function and causes high blood pressure. If untreated the kidneys will begin to fail which could lead to death. In the following paragraphs I will talk about the possibility of acquiring the disease, when my grandfather was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, and the affects it had on my family.
Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited disease. It is passed down through families through an autosomal dominant gene. This means that you must get the abnormal gene from one parent in order for you to inherit it. If one parent carries the gene, then the children have a 50% chance of acquiring it. In my mother’s case, her father had polycystic kidney disease. She had a 50% chance of obtaining it, but luckily the gene was not passed down to her or her siblings. As well as causing a disruption in kidney function, polycystic kidney disease also can cause: urinary tract infections, hematuria (blood in the urine), abnormal heart valves, kidney stones, aneurysms (bulges in the walls of the blood vessels in the brain) and diverticulosis (small pouches bulge outward through the colon).
In my family my grandfather had polycystic kidney disease. They found the disease when my mother was 17 years old. One of the cysts ruptured and caused him to become very sick by sending toxins through his body. He went to the local hospital (Penticton Hospital) and they could not find what was wrong with him. He was flown to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and underwent a variety of tests. After studying the results he met with a Nephrologist (a doctor specializing in kidney disease) and came up with the diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease. He had the option to go on Peritoneal Dialysis or Hemodialysis. Peritoneal Dialysis is when a catheter is inserted into your peritoneal cavity through your abdomen. Medicated fluid removes toxins and fluid from the kidneys and is drained out and replaced with new clean solution for further dialysis. Hemodialysis is performed in a hospital and the blood is circulated through a machine outside of the body. My grandfather chose peritoneal dialysis because it allowed him to live at home and carry out a normal life for the time being.
Once he was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease all the lives in his family changed. Everything was revolved around him; making him better and helping him. It put a lot of stress on my mother and grandmother. My mother was just finishing grade 12 and was planning to move to Vancouver with a friend, but she had to wait because of the family situation. Things began to get better so my mother moved. When she was 21 her father developed a terrible infection and was flown to St. Paul’s Hospital once again for treatment. At this time he was told that he had no other choice but to go on Hemodialysis. My grandfather did not want to spend the majority of his life in the hospital having his blood treated through a machine. He informed the family of the prognosis and since he did not want the hemodialysis he was going to die rapidly. My mother went to visit him after work one day and he was in very rough shape. She went home quickly to get some food and change her clothes. While at home she was very tired and lay down for a quick rest and fell asleep. She received a phone call a few hours later to inform her that her father had passed away. She was absolutely devastated and getting over it was very difficult.
Unfortunately there is still no cure for the disease. Dialysis is the only treatment option and only very few are able to get a transplant because of severe complications. In summary, polycystic disease is manageable, but sadly not curable.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001531
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/polycystic.pdf
http://vectorblog.org/a-new-target-in-polycystic-kidney-disease/
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/
Excellent writing Sydney
ReplyDelete