The Dead Sea, located between Israel and Jordan, is considered one the saltiest bodies of water on earth, giving swimmers a peculiar buoyancy when immersed. Interestingly, the electrolyte composition of the Dead Sea is quite different from that…
There are some interesting acid-base perturbations that can take place in the setting of eating disorders and/or surreptitious use of substances used to intentionally lose weight. Due to the surreptitious nature of many of these disorders, some lab…
Secondary prevention of nephrolithiasis is often overlooked, but since a large percentage of 1st-time stone formers will go on to develop another episode of nephrolithiasis, it makes sense to make simple dietary modifications that can minimize the risk…
The term “T-regs” is shorthand for “regulatory T-cells”–a subpopulation of T-cells which act to suppress immune system activation and promote tolerance towards self-antigens. Although the existence of T-regs was felt to be controversial up until relatively recently, the…
Very interesting results of the RFN Poll of the Week regarding different opinions regarding managing the potassium bath in a patient with hyperkalemia! Of the options give, there was a near three-way split between the first three answers…
The easy way to calculate total body water is simply to multiply 0.6 times your weight in kilograms, since roughly 2/3 of your body weight is water. There are fancier (and more accurate) equation-based calculations used to determine…
Interesting review in this month’s CJASN: “Can we personalize treatment for kidney diseases?” by Rovin et al. The term “personalized medicine” has been defined by the U.S. Congress as, “the application of genomic and molecular data to…
The winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine were revealed today, shared by three Americans: Carol Greider, Elisabeth Blackburn, and Jack Szostak, the latter of whom works at my home institution of Massachusetts General Hospital. The award…
As we all know, there are significant limitations to the use of creatinine as an estimate of GFR. Creatinine is freely filtered at the glomerulus, but in addition is also secreted to some degree, meaning that creatinine clearance…
The readers of the Renal Fellow Network have spoken, and the answer is clear: the most blood pressure elevating activity is catheter-related! 29% of fellows selected the first answer (the MICU nurse paging you to inform that your…