What are the two types of Polycystic Kidney Disease and how they can be treated?

Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited kidney disease that causes several cysts to grow inside and on the surface of kidneys. It is a type of disease that is transferred either from a parent to child or generation to generation. PKD is of two types; Autosomal dominant PKD & Autosomal recessive PKD.

If we talk about, Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, it is a genetic disorder in which tiny fluid-filled sacs commonly known as cysts, grow in the kidneys, starting from the inner lining of the organ. Being an inborn disease, a person gets this disease from one of his parents’ right from his birth. But the symptoms of the disease are not visible until the patient goes 30 years old.

Another type of polycystic kidney disease is Autosomal Recessive Polycystic kidney disease. Polycystic kidney disease is caused due to a genetic mutation of the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA defines the person’s body built, height, and complexion, etc.

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is a genetic disorder characterized by the intensification of cysts in the kidneys that can lead to kidney failure, liver problems or other organ problems like heart or lungs.

What are the symptoms of Autosomal Dominant PKD?

After reaching a worsened stage, Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease shows multiple symptoms like;

• Abdominal pain
• Hypertension
• Blood in the urine (Hematuria)
• Chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Chronic kidney stones

All or any of the above problems go untreated, it starts affecting the kidney functions leading to complete loss of kidneys.

What are the causes of Autosomal Dominant PKD?

ADPKD is caused by a genetic mutation that further disrupts the normal development of the kidney cells and tends to grow cysts. The problem in one out of two genes causes the condition of ADPKD to occur. The genes which are affected are PKD1, which is commonly seen in the cases of 85% of patients, while PKD2 accounts for 15% of the cases. The symptoms seen in PKD1 are more severe than in PKD2.

If one of the parents has a faulty PKD1 or PKD2 gene, this creates a 50% chance for their child to develop the condition of ADPKD.

Autosomal Recessive PKD:

Now let us talk about ARPKD, the symptoms develops exactly after the birth, therefore it often refers to infantile polycystic kidney disease, whereas some do not notice any sign until their childhood or adulthood. Children born with this disease not always develop kidney failure. The symptoms are controllable by the course of Ayurvedic medications, antibiotics, and a healthy diet.

Autosomal Recessive Polycystic kidney disease is a rare case seen as it occurs when both the parents transmit a faulty PKD gene to their offspring. This type of PKD starts developing in early childhood and symptoms can also be seen in the starting months of life.

What are the symptoms of Autosomal Recessive PKD?

The symptoms of Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease vary from one person to the other. They differ among people depending on the severity of the disease. Few are listed below:

• Breathing problems caused by underdeveloped lungs
• Swollen abdomen caused due to the enlarged size of the kidneys
• Potter’s syndrome is the condition in which a lack of amniotic fluid leads to defected limbs, face, and ears. This is the severe case seen in the ARPKD
• High blood pressure
• Liver diseases
• Internal bleeding
• Excessive urination also is known as polyuria
• Increased thirst, also known as polydipsia
• This can also result in excessive dehydration that further leads to dry mouth and lips, sunken eyes, headache, dizziness, irritability
• Faltering growth

How to diagnose these conditions of PKD?

Following will help you in diagnosing both the types of Polycystic Kidney Disease:

• Urine test: Urine test reveals the amount of protein present in the urine or blood spots in the urine.
• Blood test: Blood test helps in detecting the kidney function rate and their ability to filter blood is estimated. In this test, the amount of albumin, creatinine, blood urea, and other substances found in the blood.
• Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) Blood test: GFR blood test gives an overview of how well kidneys are filtering waste from the blood. Usually, GFR is measured in milliliters (ml).
• Screening tests: In some cases, a healthcare expert recommends to get an ultrasound done of the kidneys to see the actual structure and the size of the kidneys. In the presence of multiple cysts, this test detects that one is suffering a type of polycystic kidney condition.
• Other screening tests include MRI and CT scans is rarely recommended for the patients to get to know the actual state of the organ.

What can be the best treatment for these diseases?

Allopathic medical stream claims that polycystic kidney disease when it occurs, cannot be reversed or cured permanently, rather it can only be managed. It provides a symptomatic treatment for treating ADPKD & ARPKD like controlling the blood pressure level, healing pain, urinary tract infections and removing large size kidney stones, etc. The last resort to treat this condition is dialysis and kidney transplant eventually.

In a nutshell, this treatment doesn’t offer a permanent treatment but offers short-term relief. Besides, this treatment makes use of drug-based medications which can leave many after-use adverse effects on your health if taken for a long period. So, Allopathic treatment can’t be taken as a permanent solution for Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Apart from that, Ayurveda can be a way effective treatment for all types of polycystic kidney disease. Let’s see, how Ayurveda is the best treatment for this genetic kidney disorder.

The Ayurvedic treatment approach to cure these disorders:

Ayurveda is an age-old treatment that has been in practice for thousands of years to heal all kinds of body ailments permanently. This treatment method uses only the naturally grown herbs that encompass medicinal properties. The organic medications do not have any ill-effects and capable of giving a permanent solution to a health disorder. To treat polycystic kidney disease, Ayurveda uses many herbs or medications like Punarnavadi-Qaeda, Sukshma-Triphala, and Gokshuradi-Guggulu, etc. Along with these herbs, a Polycystic kidney disease ayurvedic treatment also includes the diet plan that is:

• Rich in fiber content
• Minimal consumption of carbohydrates
• Loaded with lots of fruits and vegetables
• Includes less sugar intake
• Drinking ample water throughout a day

Besides, herbal medications and a balanced diet, an Ayurvedic expert also recommend you to follow some yoga stances for treating polycystic kidney disorder. All these practices if performed or adopted properly, severe kidney disorders like polycystic kidney disease can be cured permanently. The most effective feature of this treatment method is that it is free from any kind of hazards and ill-effects.

Now, let’s take a look at the most preferring treatment method that is Allopathy. It is considered as an advanced treatment approach that utilizes the latest equipment and accessories for performing several lab tests and curing health disorders. But, this treatment method has a major drawback that it doesn’t work on the root causes of a health disorder and tries to suppress the complications of a disorder.

Why Allopathic Treatment is not preferable?

For polycystic kidney disease treatment, Allopathy uses dialysis and kidney transplant along with medications. Dialysis is an artificial treatment procedure that is used when the kidneys stop working their natural tasks or blood filtration and releasing impurities from the blood through urine. This treatment procedure can prove dangerous if it is used frequently. While kidney transplant is a surgical procedure that is performed when dialysis doesn’t work or kidneys are failed. In this procedure, a dead organ is replaced by a healthy kidney that is obtained from an alive person or a deceased body. Sometimes, the patient’s body rejects the foreign organ and in that case, anti-rejection medicines are given so that his body can’t reject the organ.

The anti organ rejection medicines are generally immunosuppressive medicines and hence they can harm the immune system of the body; sometimes these medications can damage the immune system completely. So, you can understand how fatal the complications of Allopathic treatment for polycystic kidney disease can turn to be. If you choose Allopathic treatment, its side effects can prove lethal instead of curing polycystic kidney disease; as a result, the condition may get worse. That’s why polycystic kidney disease treatment in Allopathy doesn’t offer a permanent treatment to polycystic kidney disease and can cause an ample of side-effects to appear on your body. Now, Allopathic treatment for polycystic kidney disease isn’t a proper treatment for this genetic kidney disorder.

Based on the above facts, Ayurveda is the best solution for this severe kidney disorder.

When it comes to Ayurveda, Karma Ayurveda Health provides the best treatment for curing both the types of PKD. This kidney institution provides self-manufactured unrefined herbal medications with customized diet plans to treat this severe condition. Treatment measures provided by us do not have any side-effects and are the best treatment measure than long drawn surgeries.

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Karma Ayurveda Health Karma Ayurveda Health has grown in the field of Ayurveda. Joined: February 12th, 2020