Polycystic Kidney Disease Treatment

The condition called Polycystic Kidney Disease is one of the world’s most common inherited genetic diseases. There’s usually only little options in clinical Polycystic Kidney Disease treatment offered by a traditional doctor, but there is a new approach to care that is giving people affected with PKD great results. Improvement in function, reductions in blood pressure pain relief and even shrinkage of kidneys and fluid filled cysts are possible without medication. But let’s look at PKD a bit closer. There are two types of PKD, ADPKD (Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease) and ARPKD (Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease) and the cause is similar. They both lead to the development of cysts in one or both kidneys and often times the liver and can lead to chronic kidney disease (CKD), which can lead to kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease, requiring dialysis or a transplant of a donor kidney.

Especially in the early stages of the disease, ADPKD (Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease) does not automatically equate to CKD, so let’s clear up the distinction between these conditions: You might be living with the dominant or recessive gene for the disease, having inherited it from someone in your family, but as long as you are still in good clinical health and kidney function remains normal and without problems, you do not have CKD – and therefore do not require any specific care, restrictions of foods or essential nutrients such as protein, salt, coffee, and the likes. These are common in the later stages of PKD.

So, what is traditionally done to combat failure, dialysis, and transplant? In the first stages of life and the first stages of the disease, there are usually little to no symptoms. Kidney failure and the resulting need for Polycystic Kidney Disease treatment with dialysis or transplant usually takes many years to grow and might be staved off completely, if new insights into diet, supplements, and lifestyle choices are applied in patients’ personal lives.

High blood pressure is seen in a large percentage of the ADPKD patient population, but this can in many cases be secondary hypertension caused by insulin resistance, and management may well be possible without any medicine once certain diet changes have been implemented in patients lives. But even high blood pressure as primary hypertension may be treatable without medication if the right supplements are added to an already well-designed diet.

Some patients experience flank- or side pain near one kidney or both kidneys. Contrary to popular belief, this is not usually due to the enlarged kidney or liver cysts putting pressure on other tissues, but one of the main causes seems to be high inflammation in patients. As soon as people start implementing some of the recommended diet changes, many report drastic improvement or even complete resolution of pain.

Other common issues PKD patients may get diagnosed for are kidney stones, liver cysts and urinary tract infections (UTIs). Their causes are not always clearly defined, but some doctors see the root causes of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in translocation of gut bacteria into the bloodstream, finally ending up in the kidney. Compared to a healthy control population, PKD patients have a higher incidence of a diagnosis of leaky gut, which is connected to the gene expression itself making the gut lining more permeable. The same mutation makes PKD patients more susceptible to other diseases of the connective tissue, such as aneurysms, heart valve prolapse and diverticulitis.

So short of a cure, what are the emerging ways that people can address their ADPKD & ARPKD symptoms?
New research in the field of ADPKD has shown that people on a ketogenic diet might be able to prolong their renal health, or even reverse the disease process. This is because the dominant malfunction in PKD is actually inside the mitochondria. While the clinical presentation of PKD symptoms might often take decades to manifest, injury to kidney cells can trigger the formation of cysts early on. It is vitally important that people with affected kidneys start on the right dietary program to improve their kidney health as soon as diagnosis happens.

Education is key: The exact details and resources on the intermittent ketogenic dietary program that I used to reverse my own PKD can be found in this article and my Facebook group. I also help patients to learn about the right way to do an intermittent ketogenic diet for PKD by providing consults, analyzing their blood results, and writing a personalized diet and supplement plan. I make all my articles on how to reverse PKD available here, which is also where I share any news, study or related content that might be valuable for patients.

Once patients are on the right regimen, we see blood pressure and kidney health improve. We see them stop taking blood pressure medicine. We see marked improvements in kidney function, and clinical symptoms such as flank pain reduce or even vanish. In many cases even a reduction of the size of individual cysts or kidney volume are possible.

The time when nothing could be done in terms of Polycystic Kidney Disease treatment and every patient was just slowly inching toward dialysis is slowly coming to a close. PKD cysts are responding to a ketogenic dietary lifestyle, which can even improve overall health outcomes. But it is important to keep some things in mind: PKD patients aren’t just walking kidneys. Other aspects of human physiology need to be taken into account.

With unending ketogenic dieting, insulin resistance and hormonal imbalances can be an issue in PKD, too. This is why I always recommend adding 1-2 carbohydrate refeeds per week to ensure a high degree of metabolic flexibility and adequate carbohydrate intake for hormone production, which is why women tend to need even more carbohydrates than men.

PKD also oftentimes is accompanied by other issues, which can easily be overlooked by doctors in a standard blood analysis. But successful improvements in PKD really center around the complete health of the human body, far beyond the kidneys, which is what I help my clients see and optimize for. I take a holistic view of all the aspects beyond PKD to bring the body back to health. I use several at-home measurement devices to keep track of my clients’ progress to spot early on whenever something may not be working and prevent new issues.

If you would like to know more about how you can do better than traditional polycystic kidney disease treatment and reverse your PKD symptoms with diet, lifestyle, and supplements, you are welcome to join our community on MeWe or Facebook for guidance and support. Of course, I’d be happy to set up a personal free 15-minute appointment to see if you might benefit from a personalized diet plan by someone who has been reversing PKD for almost a decade. This will give you an opportunity to ask any questions and see if my coaching program is a good fit. With this information, you can now take the next step in your personal health journey and start reversing polycystic kidney disease today.