Ideally, a team of health care professionals jointly monitor the condition of a person diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD). A person who has rising serum creatinine levels, high blood pressure and high sugar level should regularly seek advice of a kidney doctor known as nephrologist. A multidisciplinary approach to CKD care is associated with greater patient preparedness and improved health outcome during the treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease and dialysis. therefore, it is recommended that a kidney patient is associated with a nephrologist, a renal dietitian, an endocrinologist, a general physician, a dialysis technician (if under dialysis) during the course of their treatment.
Nephrologist is a doctor who treats chronic kidney disease. Nephrology is a sub specialty in the study of internal medicine and its main focus is diagnosing and managing diseases that affect the way kidney functions. It concerns itself with the kidneys: the study of normal kidney function and kidney disease, the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney disease, from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy. Nephrologists treat, among others, chronic kidney failure. acute kidney failure, diabetic nephropathy, electrolyte imbalance, dialysis treatment, chronic urinary tract infection, glomerulonephritis, hyperoxaluria, kidney stones, paediatric kidney disorders, polycystic kidney disease, renal parenchymal disease, etc. While nephrologists focus on internal medicine, urologists are doctors who specialize in surgical procedure related to urinary tract, urinary bladder, ureter, prostrate, epididymis, adrenal glands, seminal vesicles, anatomical kidney defects, kidney stones, etc.
Renal dietitian provides the right kind of diet to individual patients based on their body type, race, region, stage of kidney disease, protein and energy and nutritional requirement, fluid requirement, etc. Please read our section on diet and dietitian for more details.
General Physician is a doctor who has MBBS degree and is accessible by the patient at all times. Once a kidney patient has been diagnosed with kidney disease and is receiving treatment under nephrologist and has obtained diet chart by dietitian, s/he can visit a local general physician for regular check ups, path lab tests, sugar and Blood pressure measurement and other ailments like cold, cough, fever, etc. The general physician should be made aware of the medicines and diet taken by the patient so that they remain watchful of any acute distress by the patient due to kidney disease progression or diabetes related ailments and refer the patient to specialist at the earliest.
A diabetes patient who is also suffering from thyroid problem (which is very common nowadays) should ideally visit an endocrinologist ( a doctor who specializes in hormones in the body like thyroid, insulin, cholesterol, adrenal glands, etc). Generally, diabetes is treated by MD (General Medicine) and Endocrinologist, who are post graduates in medicine. Diabetologists obtain certificate or diploma in diabetes related study after MBBS degree. Research Society for the study of diabetes in India (RSSDI) offers certificate course in diabetology in India.
When a CKD patient undergoes dialysis, s/he should know the dialysis technician, the person who monitors and conducts dialysis. They are assisted by dialysis nurses who measure weight of the patient before and after dialysis, give medication in between dialysis if required, measure blood pressure during dialysis, and set the dialysis machine for the required ratios, and record all of this in a notebook and hand it over to the patient after each dialysis. The patient should carry the notebook always so that in case of emergency dialysis, the technicians are aware of the past history of the patient, their vaccination record, AV Fistula details, etc. In this website a patient can record all such details and just remember their user ID so that the same can be accessed by physician, technician to know the past history of the patient at any given point of time. The blood test reports and doctor’s prescription can be stored for emergency and creating a record of the patient.
Therapeutic interventions implemented early in the course of CKD have been demonstrated to be effective in delaying or preventing the adverse outcomes of chronic kidney disease. The role of dietitian, pharmacist, health care professional and social worker is often undermined during treatment of CKD. However, a combined approach results in hassle free treatment and better cope up ability in the patients.
At our dedicated kidney resource centre, we provide a package service to individual patients and help them to get doctor’s appointment, lab tests, dietitian consultation, healthcare professional consultation, kidney educationist, and even social worker to help raise funds or claim medical insurance, all at a single place. A patient manager, a single point of contact for an individual patient, shall help the patient’s family towards a hassle free experience for treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The patient manager shall ensure that the patient is not having any problem in treatment, check up and consultation at any point of time during their treatment.
Our team also provides access to NGOs who provide subsidized medicines, free dialysis to patients, etc.