Post Date December, 02 2023
Kidney disease is one of the globally recognized diseases that threaten human health. Kidney disease is a highly threatening chronic disease, and the treatment process for kidney disease is also quite long and difficult. Many patients have a misconception about kidney disease that 'indicators decrease' means' the disease is better 'and' protein restriction 'means' no protein'.
'Indicator decrease' ≠ 'Illness is cured'
Many patients with kidney disease may not pay attention to the severity of the disease in the early stage, and often use oral hormones, Tripterygium wilfordii, and other drugs to control urinary protein and occult blood. At the beginning, the treatment effect was quite obvious, with several laboratory indicators such as urinary protein and occult blood quickly improving, and some even completely disappearing. So the patient thought they had recovered and was very happy.
But not long after, encountering adverse stimuli such as colds and fatigue, the condition worsened. So, they began to use hormones, Tripterygium wilfordii, and other drugs again and again. Despite taking a lot of medication, urinary protein and occult blood were not controlled, and instead, side effects such as obesity, pleural and ascites, and even liver function damage, femoral head necrosis, etc., gradually worsened.
Expert reminder: Urinary protein and occult blood leak out of the urine due to severe damage to the glomerular basement membrane in the kidney. It is a cognitive mistake to assume that the disease has improved by only thinking that the urinary protein and occult blood have disappeared. Simply using some controlled drugs can have initial effects, but they are only temporary, and these drugs often have side effects, treating symptoms but not the root cause.
The correct treatment should be to fundamentally treat the kidneys systematically, by repairing damaged glomeruli to completely eliminate symptoms of urinary protein and occult blood.
Limited protein ≠ No protein
Nitrogen containing substances such as ammonia, urea and creatinine, the products of protein metabolism in the body, need to be excreted by the kidney. If a person eats too much protein, it can increase the burden on the liver and kidneys, and have adverse effects on the human body. After diagnosis of kidney disease, doctors often advise patients to control their protein intake. But some patients excessively follow medical advice, not only on a "protein limited" diet, but also on a "protein free" diet.
After a patient was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, they began to control their protein diet, only eating vegetarians, not meat, and not even taking a bite of tofu. As a result, it not only did not help with kidney disease treatment, but also caused malnutrition, weakened immunity, infection, and worsened the condition, "experts said.
Expert reminder: Clinical studies have shown that a low protein diet can reduce urinary protein excretion. But protein is an essential nutrient for the human body and an indispensable part of its metabolism. Patients with chronic nephritis and nephrotic syndrome, as long as their kidney function is normal, should not rely mainly on vegetarianism. They should consume some protein that is highly utilized by the human body but has lower requirements for kidney excretion. The intake of protein should be "low but refined", with high-quality animal protein as the main source, such as milk, eggs, meat, etc.
In addition, soy products are prohibited from consumption. This is because soy products contain a large amount of non essential amino acids, and long-term consumption in large quantities can not only cause glomerular damage or sclerosis, resulting in proteinuria, but also the protein metabolite urea nitrogen needs to be filtered out through the glomerulus, inevitably increasing the burden on the kidneys, further damaging renal function, and worsening the patient's condition.
The treatment of kidney disease is a relatively long process, and if the indicators drop, one will forget about it without controlling the condition and taking medication; Everything should have a limit, limiting protein does not mean no protein, and daily supplementation of a certain amount of protein is still necessary for the body.
