One pitfall of some of the incredible medical advances over the last century is that we too often forget what it was like before.
Before penicillin in the 1940s, thousands died of simple infections. Before a cure for polio in the mid-‘50s, tens of thousands were sickened, killed or disabled.
And before outpatient dialysis became widely available in 1972 – 40 years ago this year – 100,000 Americans died of kidney failure …
Reducing the need for dialysis
There comes a moment when you’re forced to step beyond the things you know. It’s a split second — an instant adjustment from the safety of recollection to the insecurity of the unknown. Day after day we head into the library, hunching over twice-reviewed notes and hidden behind piles of books yet to be read. We push ourselves to work harder, study longer. We toil knowing that each page holds …
A medical student is forced to step beyond the things he knows
An excerpt from What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease.
The symptoms of kidney disease don’t show up until you’ve lost most of your kidney function. That’s when you’ll experience the fatigue that’s not always a result of anemia, the muscle cramps that usually – but not always – present themselves in your calves, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, easy bruising, itching and the shortness of …
Chronic kidney disease from a patient perspective
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 42-year-old woman is evaluated for a 3-month history of progressive cervical lymphadenopathy, fatigue, night sweats, bilateral lower-extremity and abdominal wall edema, and a 4.5-kg (10.0-lb) weight gain. History is significant for three episodes of weight gain and facial and lower-extremity edema lasting 4 weeks in …
MKSAP: 42-year-old woman with lymphadenopathy, fatigue, and edema
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