Learn About Anemia in People with Polycystic Kidney Disease(PKD)

Are you or your loved ones with the disease of PKD?Before this disease develops to be end stage of renal failure, there usually isn’t anemia.For the patients who have the long-term persistence hematuria, they may be accompanied with slight anemia. When this disease develops to be end stage of renal failure, there may be the symptom of anemia.

Kidneys perform many important functions, one of which is producing the hormone erythropoietin . This substance can signal the bone marrow to secrete red blood cells. As PKD progresses, the disease kidneys fail to produce enough EPO, so not as many red blood cells are made. Anemia can be caused due to lack of red blood cells.

Persons with PKD have multiple clusters of cysts form on the kidneys. The exact action that triggers cyst formation is unknown. In early stages of the disease, the cysts cause the kidney to swell, disrupting kidney function and leading to chronic high blood pressure and kidney infections. The cysts may cause the kidneys to increase production of erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates production of red blood cells. This leads to too many red blood cells, rather than the anemia seen in chronic kidney disease.Anemia of Polycystic Kidney Disease is less and slighter. If the patients with this disease have the symptom of anemia, this may be is caused by other reasons.

As for the treatment of anemia, except the remedy for the primary cause, patients of iron-deficiency anemia should adopt the chalybeate; patients of lacking of vitamin B12 or folic acid should replenish vitamin B12 and folic acid; patients with renal anemia should adopt erythrogenin.

At the same time, patients of anemia should take in some natural food which has the function of enriching the blood, such as black soya bean, carrot, gluten, spinach, day lily, arillus longan and dried turnip.