NEPHRITIS or Bright's disease
Nephritis refers to an inflammation of the
kidneys. It is a serious condition and may be either acute or chronic.
A synonym for nephritis is Bright's disease. It can be caused by
infection, but is most commonly caused by autoimmune disorders that
affect the major organs.
Most often this disease strikes in childhood or adolescence. It can
become progressively worse and result in death, if not treated properly
at the initial stage.
Cause-
1.Streptococcus infection of the throat or an attack of scarlet
fever.Nephritis usually follows some streptococcus infection of the
throat or an attack of scarlet fever, or rheumatic fever.
2.Wrong feeding habit and weak defense mechanisms of the body.
3.The suppressive medical treatment of former diseases,
4.The habitual use of chemical agents of all kinds for the treatment of
indigestion and other stomach disorders and frequent use of aspirin and
other painkillers.
5.Nutritional deficiencies can also lead to nephritis. The disease can
result from a diet lacking in vitamin B1 and choline.
6.It can also be caused by a diet deficient in essential fatty acids
and magnesium.
7.When vitamin B6 and magnesium are undersupplied, the kidneys are
further damaged by sharp crystals of oxalic acid combined with calcium.
Types-
- Glomerulonephritis is inflammation of the glomeruli. (Often
when the term "nephritis" is used without qualification, this is the
condition meant.)
- Interstitial nephritis or tubulo-interstitial nephritis is
inflammation of the spaces between renal tubules.
- Pyelonephritis is when a urinary tract infection has
reached the pelvis of the kidney.
- Lupus nephritis is an inflammation of the kidney caused by
systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disease of the immune system.
Symptoms-
1.Often, children suffer from sore throat, tonsillitis, boils or
scabies, two or three weeks before the onset of the disease.
2.The condition has a sudden onset with fever and backache.
3.Pain in the kidneys, extending down to the ureters
4.Passage of scanty and highly coloured urine. Urine may contain blood,
albumin and casts consisting of clumps of red and white cells which
come from damaged kidneys.
5.Swelling occurs around the eyelids and on the face giving a puffy
appearance. Later, swelling extends to feet, ankles, legs and other
parts of the body.
6.In the chronic stage of nephritis, which may drag on for many years,
the patient passes large amounts of albumin in the urine. Later, there
may be rise in blood pressure and the patient may develop uraemia.
There may be frequent urination, especially during night.
Diagnosis-
Nephritis is diagnosed by evaluating-
1.A patient's history and possible genetic precursors for nephritis,
any recent history of sore throat or bladder infection can indicate
infectious nephritis. Those who have lupus are usually told they are
predisposed to nephritis and are urged to report signs of swelling in
the extremities to their doctors as soon as possible.
2.Lab tests- urine analysis can be a significant help in diagnosing
excess protein in the urine stream, as well as the presence of
infection.
3.Blood tests may also help diagnose nephritis.
4.Physical examination can reveal kidneys that are swollen,
5.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to evaluate amount of
swelling.
Infectious nephritis is easier to prevent if a patient with sore throat
or bladder infection is diagnosed early and adheres to taking the
appropriate medications.
Treatment-
One can reduce contracting nephritis from urinary tract or bladder
infections with a few simple behavioral changes like
a.Maintaining good hygiene when using the bathroom, like wiping front
to back,
b.Drinking plenty of fluids, and
c.Urination every couple of hours to clear the bladder.
d.Intake proteins and salt in diet should be restricted. The diet given
must supply adequate calories from carbohydrate and fat sources.
e.Fasting on vegetable juices. The safest treatment for acute nephritis
is fasting on vegetable juices for seven to ten days. This will remove
the toxins and systemic impurities responsible for the inflammatory
kidney conditions.
f.Avoid overloading on kidneys. Take rest.
g.Fresh air and outdoor exercises will be of great benefit in all cases
of nephritis and grown-up children should be encouraged to undertake
them whenever possible.
Role of Homoeopathy
It should be emphasized that homoeopathy treats patient who is diseased
and not the disease, which the patient has. The basic approach in
homeopathy is to evaluate the disease of Nephritis in its whole extent,
whereby a lot of emphasis is given to the patient as a whole besides
minutely studying various aspects of the Nephritis.
The homeopathic approach is to enhance body's own healing capacity so
that the all deviations of immune system are brought back to normal.
Homoeopathy is very effective in all stages and variants of Nephritis.
It helps to reduce (and eventually to stop) the dose of conventional
medicines for Nephritis, once the improvement sets in. It helps arrest
further progress of disease and hence deterioration caused by disease.
The goals of treatment are to relieve symptoms, prevent complications
and delay progressive kidney damage.
Please E-mail dr_ramanand@rediffmail.com for any questions/treatment