Will Polycystic Kidney Disease Cause Appetite Loss

Polycystic kidney disease is a congenital renal disorder. Though its progression is slow, it will in the end develop into end stage renal disease and cause a series of symptoms and complications.

PKD patients often complain about poor appetite and they want to know is this a normal symptom and how to alleviate it.

Appetite loss is one symptom in digestive and gastrointestinal systems and it is one common complication of PKD especially among those that are in relatively advanced stages when the renal structure and renal functions have been severally damaged. Patients often have fatigue, nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, itching skin, difficulty in breathing, anemia, etc.

The direct cause of appetite loss are damages of gastrointestinal system due to the excessive accumulation of too much metabolic wastes and toxins such as uric acid, urea nitrogen and serum creatinine, etc. When GFR is lower than 25ml/min or creatinine level is lower than 350umol/l, there will be declines of renal tubular secretion function of hydrogen ion and re-absorption ability of HCO3-. When the level of HCO3- is lower than 15mmol/l in the arterial blood, patients will suffer from obvious appetite loss, vomiting, fatigue, long and deep breath, etc.

The root cause of poor appetite is decline of kidney functions. Normal kidney can discharge waste produces from metabolism at the same time of producing urine. When more than half of kidney functions are damaged by these multiple increasing cysts, these wastes and toxins can not been cleared out of the blood. They will cause a series of disorders and imbalances in the internal body and affect the patients' appetite.

In a word, to improve PKD patients' appetite and promote their recovery, we need first to lower high levels of these harmful products and then improve kidney functions. We know that creatinine level is an important indicator of kidney functions. When creatinine level is too high, patients need to take dialysis to first clean their internal environment which can not only alleviate poor appetite but also is very necessary for more effective and treatments to take effects.

Some Chinese medicines and certain foods can help regulate digestive disorder and improve appetite. Here i just a few of them, for example pineapple and radish and there is a beneficial acupoint called ZuSanLi acupoint. Pressing this point with hands twice a day and every time 15 counts can help regulate the functions of spleen and stomach, promote digestion and improve appetite.