Archive for June, 2009

Effect of Hypertension on Kidneys

Serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) tests can help detect kidney damage resulting from hypertension. The increased systemic vascular resistance caused by hypertension promotes renal vascular changes and decreases renal blood flow. Diminished blood flow through the glomeruli triggers the release of renin, further increasing vasoconstriction and systemic vascular resistance. The glomeruli atrophy, and the kidneys shrink, inhibiting the excretion of creatinine and BUN.

Normally, the kidneys excrete creatinine-a waste product of muscle metabolism. Usually, serum creatinine levels range from 0.8 to 1.2 mg/dl in men and from 0.6 to 0.9 mg/dl in women. But when reduced blood flow through the glomeruli hinders renal excretion, serum creatinine levels are elevated.

The kidneys also filter and excrete the nitrogen fraction of urea-a waste product of protein metabolism. Normal BUN levels range from 8 to 26 mg/dl.

Test Implications

Elevated BUN levels alone don’t indicate renal dysfunction because infection, trauma, GI bleeding, diet, and dehydration can also increase BUN levels. But when a patient has elevated BUN and serum creatinine levels, he probably has reduced glomerular blood flow and kidney dysfunction.

If a patient is taking a diuretic or an ACE inhibitor to treat his hypertension, closely monitor his BUN and creatinine test results. Diuretics generally increase water and sodium excretion, which lowers circulating intravascular volume. As circulating volume decreases, so does renal blood flow, causing a rise in BUN and creatinine levels.

Other drugs can also influence a patient’s test results. For example, aminoglycosides can increase creatinine levels. Drugs such as allopurinol, furosemide, and indomethacin can increase BUN levels. And chloramphenicol can decrease BUN levels.

Changes in the patient’s protein intake and overhydration and underhydration can also affect the test results


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Oral Chelation Therapy: A Boon for Cardiac and other problems

With the enormous changes in our lifestyles in twenty first century, we are compromising our health. The medical community is alarmed by the increasing number of syndrome X cases reported all over the world. The syndrome X includes four major problems like hypercholesterolemia, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. All these are either cause or effect of arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis developing in arteries of the body. The arteries and veins thus get blocked and various end organ damages result.

To avert this, one can definitely start with the positive lifestyle regime and also take plaque breaking medicines like EDTA Cardio Renew. This type of chelation therapy is said to be very effective for re-establishing the arterial blood flow. It literally detoxifies the arteries by expelling the excess minerals, calcium, and heavy metals out of them by chelation. Obviously when the blockages are removed, the blood flow reaches to vital organs without fail and they function efficiently.

The oral chelation therapy is effective not only against the plaque building within the arteries but also effective against certain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, accelerated aging, diabetes and its complications, chronic fatigue syndrome, glaucoma, Raynaud’s disease, scleroderma, senile dementia, stroke, hair fall, and heart failure. There are many other conditions for which your doctor may like to prescribe you the easy oral chelation therapy.

For those who fret the long term extensive cardiac treatments and surgeries pertaining to them, oral chelation therapy is a blessing for sure. They can embark on healthy diet and exercise regime while continuing the therapy under an expert, and get rid of all their problems with this single-therapy regime!


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