Can PKD Patients Drink Alcohol

Research has found that alcohol especially white spirits should be given up by PKD patients because alcohol has particularly great stimulation to the kidneys. It can stimulate the activity of the polycystic protein and speed up the secretion of the cystic fluid and the growth rate the cysts.

The recovery of PKD, kidney cyst and other kidney diseases all require a favorable internal environment while over-drinking of alcohol will disturb the orders and balances in the body and is not conducive for the damaged kidneys.

1. Long term drinking alcohol will increase the blood pressure;

2. Excessive intake of alcohol will cause loss of bound water in the cells;

3. The hypermetabolism of creatine in the muscle will increase the serum creatinine;

4. The acidoid produced in alcohol decomposition will cause metabolic acidosis and patients will have symptoms of nausea, loss of appetite, mental depression, headache, etc;

5. Long term drinking alcohol will cause anemia, platelet dysfunction and patients are easy to have various bleeding;

6. It will cause gastrointestinal malabsorption and malnutrition will cause low utilization of vitamin B1, B2 and folic acid and increased excretion of vitamin B6;

7. It can also cause hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.

The above are the damages that drinking alcohol to the whole body and they are also detrimental for the recovery of PKD.

In addition, drinking alcohol can damage the kidney also. Alcohol can affect the nitrogen balance in the body and increase the decomposition of protein and increase the urea nitrogen in the blood. This will definitely increase burdens to the kidneys.

Since PKD will cause decrease of renal concentration function, more water intake is needed to help discharge metabolic wastes and toxins out of the body. Therefore patients should not limit water blindly if they have no obvious edema, heart failure or hypertension.