Blog Archive
Your kidneys have an important job. As filters for your blood supply, your kidneys remove waste products and other excess materials before returning the clean blood to circulation. Excess protein is one of the materials removed by your kidneys. While it’s not uncommon (or dangerous) to have small amounts of...
Our bodies are complex biological organisms, relying on hundreds of distinct functions to keep us healthy. Most of those functions are so subtle we don’t realize they’re happening — until something goes wrong. An electrolyte imbalance is a great example: Electrolytes play vital roles in health and function but largely...
Vasculitis is a relatively uncommon medical condition characterized by inflamed blood vessels. Studies in the US and Europe found vasculitis affects up to 40 million people, causing symptoms and complications that range from relatively mild to life-threatening. At Houston Kidney Specialists Center, our team helps patients manage vasculitis, providing therapies...
About 37 million people live with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States, according to the American Kidney Fund, and nearly a million have kidney failure. Data also indicate the rate is growing — not just in the U.S., but worldwide. There’s no cure for CKD; severe kidney disease...
In the United States, about 11% of men and 7% of women experience at least one kidney stone, and data show those numbers are rising. Some people develop kidney stones only once, but others have them on a regular basis, along with pain and other symptoms. In this post, the...
For many of us, the only time we hear about electrolytes is when we’re choosing a sports drink. In those products, electrolytes help replace sodium and other minerals lost from exercise and sweat. But our bodies don’t just need electrolytes for physical activity. These minerals play key roles in many...
Everyone knows the importance of healthy, strong bones. After all, your bones provide the framework for your body. If your bones are weak, you’re more prone to fractures, disability, poor mobility, and decreased quality of life. Healthy, strong bones depend on specific minerals, but if you have kidney disease or...
Your kidneys work as filters for your blood, helping your body eliminate waste products and excess fluids through your urine while preventing nutrients — such as protein — from leaving your bloodstream. If you have a large amount of protein in your urine, that can be a sign that your...
About 37 million Americans suffer from kidney disease, according to the American Kidney Fund, and as many as 90% of people don’t even know they have the disease. That's because kidney disease often causes few or subtle symptoms in its early stages, only becoming noticeable once kidney damage starts to...
About 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease (CKD), and as many as 90% of those individuals aren’t aware they have the condition. That’s because CKD often causes few symptoms in its earliest stages, making it more difficult to detect on your own. Without prompt diagnosis and treatment, CKD can quickly progress,...
Your kidneys work hard filtering your blood of impurities, regulating your blood pressure, and maintaining optimal levels of many important fluids and other substances in your body. If you have kidney disease, all of those functions can be compromised, which can lead to serious health problems and, in severe cases,...
Vasculitis is a group of rare inflammatory conditions that happen when your immune system attacks your blood vessels. There are different types of vasculitis — some primarily affect adults, while others are more common among kids. Researchers don’t know what causes vasculitis, and currently there’s no cure. However, there are...
About 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition that happens when the kidneys are no longer able to work the way they’re supposed to. CKD happens for different reasons, and it can develop subtly. In fact, as many as 90% of people with CKD don’t know they have it. Whether you’ve...
Most of us have had at least some minor swelling during our lives. An infected tooth, a bug bite, or a bruise can all be accompanied by a little swelling, usually as a result of inflammation or minor fluid leakage. But edema is different. Edema is a type of swelling...
About 37 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). While there’s no cure for kidney disease, there are treatments that can help manage its symptoms and enable you to enjoy a healthier, happier life. As a leading...
About half of American adults have hypertension (high blood pressure), which is a chronic medical problem that dramatically increases your risk for serious — even life-threatening — complications. To reduce those risks, you need to play a proactive role in managing and controlling your blood pressure, and our team can help. Houston Kidney Specialists...
When most of us think about electricity, we think about the energy that powers our lights, TVs, and computers (and even some of our cars). But electricity also helps power our bodies, playing an important role in nerve, muscle, and organ function. Unlike those other devices, however, our body doesn’t...
Your kidneys do a lot more than produce urine. They act as your body’s filters, playing a critical role in balancing the hormones, minerals, and other products found in your blood. The way they work is deceptively simple: Blood flows into the kidneys where millions of tiny filters remove wastes and return...
Have you ever heard the saying, “You can have too much of a good thing”? Sodium is a great example. While a little is good — even essential — for normal body function, too much sodium can have dire consequences for your health and your organs, including your kidneys. The...
A urinalysis is a routine medical test that’s often ordered as part of a regular physical exam. But did you ever wonder why? One major reason is because your urine carries away a lot of waste material and byproducts, including byproducts of underlying disease processes. A urinalysis measures specific byproducts in your urine...
Proteinuria is a condition that happens when you have too much protein in your urine, a symptom that’s sometimes associated with urinary tract infections or conditions like diabetes. You can even have a temporary rise in urine protein after a particularly heavy workout where you perspire a lot. But when...
Nearly half of American adults suffer from hypertension or high blood pressures. That means that every one of them is at increased risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some types of dementia. Hypertension happens when the pressure inside your blood vessels increases beyond normal levels, which...
Vasculitis is a chronic condition that causes inflammation inside the walls of your blood vessels. Inflammation causes swelling, and when that swelling happens inside your vessels, it can wind up limiting or even cutting off blood flow to organs and tissues. Researchers don’t know exactly what causes vasculitis, but what...
For most of us, the only time we hear about electrolytes is when we’re listening to an ad for sports drinks. That’s kind of deceptive, because we all have natural electrolytes, and for most of us, our body is designed to balance them without any outside help, aside from a...
About 37 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), a persistent medical condition that affects the way the kidneys work. Kidney disease requires ongoing medical care to support your kidneys and help you stay healthy. For some people, that ongoing care includes kidney dialysis. As leading nephrologists in Houston and Cypress,...
Protein plays a lot of important roles in maintaining health. But when protein is present in your urine — a medical finding called proteinuria — it can be a sign of an underlying medical problem. Plenty of people have never heard of proteinuria, but it’s actually fairly common. In fact,...
Hypertension is a common chronic medical problem that affects about half of American adults, yet only about a quarter of those men and women have their high blood pressure under control. That’s serious, because hypertension substantially increases your risks of heart disease, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke, and even some...
Vasculitis is a broad term that includes several medical conditions and diseases that cause inflammation of the blood vessels. Although it’s relatively uncommon, vasculitis can have fatal consequences if not diagnosed and treated early. The team at Houston Kidney Specialists Center uses the most advanced methods of diagnosing and managing...
Everybody gets a little short of breath from time to time, especially after a bout of strenuous exercise. But some people have shortness of breath a lot more often, typically because of an underlying health problem. Asthma and heart disease are two well-known causes of shortness of breath. However, they’re...
Most of us have had a little swelling at some point in our lives, maybe from an insect bite or a minor burn. But edema is different. Edema is a particular kind of swelling that happens when fluid gets trapped inside your body’s tissues. Unlike temporary swelling, which typically clears...
More than 660,000 Americans suffer from kidney failure, and of those, almost a half million are on dialysis. Also called hemodialysis, dialysis is designed to compensate for a loss of kidney function in people with serious kidney disease and kidney failure. If our team has recommended on-site dialysis or home...
Having blood in your urine —which is a condition called hematuria — isn’t uncommon. In fact, hematuria happens in up to 30% of the population, becoming more common with age. Still, if you have blood in your urine, it’s not normal. The good news, however, is that hematuria isn’t always...
More than 20,000 kidney transplant procedures were performed last year in the United States, according to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing. Getting a kidney transplant can — literally — change your life. But as exciting as it can be, a lot of people find themselves a little...
About 1.5 million Americans suffer from lupus, an autoimmune disease that overwhelmingly affects women. Lupus usually develops between the ages of 15-44, causing widespread symptoms that can affect every aspect of a person’s life. Lupus is a condition in which the immune system begins attacking healthy tissues and organs. The...
Diabetes isn’t just a major cause of kidney disease in American adults — it’s the leading cause. That means if you have diabetes, you need to do all you can to protect your kidneys and monitor their health. As part of our comprehensive kidney care program, the team at Houston...
Having blood in your urine — which is a condition called hematuria — isn’t uncommon. In fact, in adult patients, up to 30% of urine tests come back with some traces of blood. But even though it’s relatively common, it’s never normal. And sometimes, it can be a sign of...
About 37 million Americans have kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation. That’s about 15% of the adult population in the United States. Unfortunately, many people who have kidney disease don’t know they have it, so they’re not getting the treatment they need. Knowing the symptoms of kidney disease...
About 37 million American adults live with kidney disease, a chronic condition that can have life-threatening complications. High blood pressure (hypertension) is one of the most common causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and kidney failure, which means learning how to manage your blood pressure is critical if you’ve been...
While it’s not unusual to have some mild, temporary swelling around a cut or bruise due to inflammation in the area, another type of swelling — called edema — can have a much more serious cause. Edema generally refers to swelling that occurs when excess fluids get trapped inside your...
When it comes to the kidneys and heart, many people think these systems have very little to do with each other. However, they’re actually very interconnected. Here at Houston Kidney Specialists Center, we support patients with both cardiovascular and kidney concerns. We have four locations throughout Houston and Cypress, Texas,...
Obesity has become an epidemic, with obesity rates around 40% among American adults. In addition to increasing the risk of developing certain health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer, obesity also increases the risk of developing chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease is a condition in which the kidneys...
As Texas recently became the first state to vaccinate more than 1 million people, we’re sure many of our patients have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and its safety for those with kidney problems. Here at Houston Kidney Specialists Center, with four locations throughout Houston and Cypress, Texas, we recommend...
Vasculitis is an umbrella term for a group of rare autoimmune conditions that occur when blood vessels in part of your body get inflamed. Left untreated, the inflamed blood vessels can affect circulation and lead to tissue damage. Fortunately, there are a number of treatment options for vasculitis, but it’s...
Normally, your kidneys work to filter out the excess waste and fluid in your blood. This excess waste and fluid is then removed through your urine. However, in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), your kidneys can fail, requiring outside medical intervention in order to filter your blood and prevent the buildup...
If you’ve dealt with the intense pain of kidney stones, it’s only natural to want to prevent them from recurring in the future. Even the tiniest of stones can cause excruciating pain as it travels through and leaves the kidney. Your kidneys perform life-saving duties and are meant to filter...
The entire HKSC team is excited to announce that Dr. Jonathan Pankow will be joining our practice in June 2020. Dr. Jonathan Pankow was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas by two parent physicians. He completed his undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry with Summa Cum Laude honors at...
As the Covid 19 pandemic continues to affect the United States, many physicians including our doctors at HKSC have begun offering telemedicine. It has not only allowed our practice to do our part in flattening the curve, by taking precautions to limit in person visits, but is has also allowed...
We are excited to announce that Dr.Tsegaw Egziti joined the HKSCMD team in June 2019. Dr. Egziti completed his Internal Medicine Residency at University of Texas Southwestern Austin Regional Program in 2014. He then continued to follow his passion in Nephrology and completed Nephrology fellowship at University of Texas Southwestern...
We are excited to announce that Dr.Iti Yadav joined the HKSCMD team in May 2019 to provide Hospital Coverage in Nephrology. Dr. Yadav has endeared herself to all of her patients with excellent and compassionate service for many years in the area as Hospitalist in Internal Medicine. She is highly...
Polycystic kidney disease (also called PKD) is a disease in which clusters of cysts develop and grow primarily within your kidneys. This causes the kidney to enlarge and lose function. The cysts are noncancerous round sacs filled with fluid. The cysts vary in size and they can grow very large....