Treatment Options
Once kidneys are functioning less than 15% of normal, known as stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease, renal replacement therapy is needed and this can be dialysis or transplantation. When the kidneys can no longer adequately function, the following may happen: • Symptoms of uraemia. This can range from subtle symptoms of poor appetite, funny taste […]
Kidney Transplantation in T&T
The majority of people are unaware that kidney transplantation occurs in Trinidad and Tobago. Kidney donation can happen in two ways; (1) Living donor, whereby a kidney is donated by a relative or loved one; and (2) Donation after death (deceased donor), whereby kidneys are retrieved after someone has died (in a controlled setting like […]
Kidney Stones
THE KIDNEYS ARE ORGANS that maintain and control the body’s fluid and chemical levels. The kidneys, ureter and bladder form part of the urinary tract. Urine is made in the kidneys from the body’s waste and it travels down the ureters into the bladder where it is stored. The urine then leaves the body via […]
Kidney Worry
By Dr. Dexter James One of the island’s most senior health professionals has revealed that there has been such a “phenomenal” rise in admissions and deaths from kidney failure that the Renal Unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) can no longer admit new haemodialysis patients unless someone undergoing treatment dies. Equally troubling, QEH Chief […]
Making a case for Transplant
Dialysis patients have a lower life expectancy than patients living with HIV, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Consultant Nephrologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Dr. Lisa Belle, made this startling revelation recently during the hospital’s conference on Live and Cadaveric Organ Transplantations – Truths and Myths, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre, Two Mile […]
More Kidney Donors Needed
Dr Margaret O’Shea operates with Mr Nick Inston during the kidney transplant at the QEH on Tuesday. Barbadians are being encouraged to come forward to donate kidneys and consider transplants as a main option to treat end-stage kidney disease. The appeal came from Dr Margaret O’Shea, who headed the surgical team at the Queen Elizabeth […]
Kidney failure afflicting children
A kidney specialist has revealed that children as young as eight are suffering from genetic kidney disease while adults in the 20-30 age group are suffering from kidney failure owing to lifestyle diseases. Consultant nephrologist Dr Nerissa Jurawan said: “In the children, it is usually a genetic disease, which means that it is something that […]