A very interesting article in this month’s JASN by Herlitz et al describes a cohort of 10 bodybuilders with chronic kidney disease, making a compelling case that anabolic steroid use is an underrecognized cause of secondary FSGS. The…
Poll results from last week’s question regarding anemia management in the dialysis patient. Interestingly, there was a fairly strong consensus on this one, with over 75% of individuals electing to give a course of iv iron to the…
I’ve done a post on renal-relevant HIV drugs previously, but I just heard an interesting case of tenofovir-induced renal failure at our Renal Grand Rounds and thought I’d mention a few interesting tidbits from the presentation. 1. HIV-Associated…
Last July, for my Dad’s 65th Birthday, I managed to somehow convince the Indiana branch of the National Kidney Foundation to loan me their “Billy the Kidney” mascot costume. While it was in my possession, I figured why…
Why do we write notes in the chart day after day? Why does the chart even exist? In my mind, the main function of the medical chart (and progress notes) is communication: charting allows physicians (and other members…
Why do some dialysis patients require so much more Epogen than others? Some patients manage to hit their targets with relatively low doses, and may even require “holding” EPO injections to avoid the upper hemoglobin range where excess…
Very interesting results from last week’s poll, in which the question asked was essentially, “Do you believe that steroids are effective in the treatment of AIN?” The vote was generally split 50-50; that is, about half of individuals…
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is one of the potential neurologic complications associated with CKD or ESRD, though it can also occur independently of kidney dysfunction, with some cases of familial transmission documented (though no gene has yet to…
There is a good review article in this month’s NEJM entitled “Use of Diuretics in Patients with Hypertension” by Ernst and Moser which focuses predominantly on the thiazide class of diuretics. The thiazides are considered a FUNCTIONAL rather…
One of the things I was definitely grateful for at this year’s Thanksgiving table: I’m not on-call and can spend the holiday with my family! Best wishes to those renal fellows working hard on this holiday. Poll Results…
