-
The perils of Salt
Dialysis finally forced recognition of its importance in kidney disease The Amazonian Yanomami Indians famously manage on only 50mg (1 mmol) of sodium chloride per day, while in more developed societies we struggle to keep our average intake below 100 times that level. Humans probably mostly evolved on diets more like that of the Yanomami.…
-
The discovery of an effective treatment for renal anemia
In 1986 recombinant erythropoietin is the product of years of research Anaemia was a major cause of morbidity in patients with end stage renal disease until recombinant erythropoietin became available at the end of the 1980s. Before long-term dialysis was available, haemoglobin (Hb) levels fell to a mean of about 8 g/dl (80 g/l) at…
-
Surprises from the 1994 Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) study
Low-protein disappoints; attention drawn to proteinuria and blood pressure The MDRD study was a landmark trial set up to prove the importance of dietary protein in slowing the progression of kidney failure. This had been shown in animal models but human studies were not so clear. It was combined with using two different blood pressure…