MD Education Insights

Why the Kidneys Matter The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located at the back of the upper part of the abdomen whose main function is to filter blood and remove waste. While that sounds simple enough, I would argue that their physiology is some of the most complex in the body. Calculating the filtration of various substances, the effect of hormones, and the impact of conditions like acid-base disturbances in the body becomes remarkably complex, so I will not spend much time detailing that. There are whole textbooks on that topic if you are interested. Instead, I will specifically address chronic kidney disease (CKD), a rapidly growing condition worldwide. By the end of this article, you should have a better understanding of how CKD changes normal kidney function, what normal kidney function looks like, what causes CKD, and the treatments/therapies that address CKD.  CKD = chronic kidney disease Normal Kidney Function: To understand why CKD has a high morbidity and mortality (i....

Heart Failure - Disease Process and Prevention Heart failure has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1950. Right now, more than 6.5 million people have heart failure and it is only becoming more prevalent [ 1 ]. Furthermore, national spending on heart failure-related expenses is astronomical and only expected to increase. In this post, I want to address what heart failure is, how it develops, and lifestyle factors geared toward prevention. Why is heart failure becoming more common, despite advances in medication and treatment? The other day, I was speaking with a cardiology resident and he told me that his opinion from observation, and I agree, is that heart failure has become more prevalent because medicine has gotten a lot better at treating acute, life-threatening issues like heart attacks. More people are surviving these events which exposes underlying diseases. The typical American diet and lifestyle are less than optimal, so chronic diseases like diabetes a...