As a kidney patient, should you be using alternative treatments along with your prescribed drugs to help you feel better? The internet is full of tempting but often misleading– or outright false– information about medical marijuana and other alternative medicines. You must find ways to separate fact from fiction and become an empowered patient in the fight against kidney disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask your nephrologist and internist in Beverly Hills<\/a>, Dr. Gura, about the supplements you are taking. Dr. Gura specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease<\/a> and can give you the most up-to-date information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Joshua L. Rein, DO, told Healio\u2019s Nephrology News & Issues<\/a> that \u201csome patients may be using (marijuana or cannabis) to treat some of the symptoms of their kidney disease, explaining, \u2018Patients with kidney disease experience significant symptom burden.\u2019 And symptoms, such as nausea, lack of appetite and chronic pain, \u2018are all valid issues for medical marijuana usage.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An increasing number of states have legalized medical marijuana, and some have even made it legal for recreational use. \u201cBut just because a drug is legal, that does not make it safe, or a good idea, for kidney patients [AmericanKidneyFund<\/a>.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the American Society of Nephrology\u2019s held their annual Kidney Week conference in October 2018, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York shared some interesting research findings<\/a>. They had studied kidney disease progression in cannabis users and \u201cfound that chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients\u2019 kidney function declined faster in those who used cannabis, compared to those who did not [AmericanKidneyFund<\/a>.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you already have kidney disease, using cannabis to treat your symptoms does not seem to be the best solution. The drug can actually cause your condition to get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a CKD patient and have been using medical or recreational marijuana to treat your symptoms, it may be a good time to have a discussion with your nephrologist and <\/a>internist in Beverly Hills<\/a>, Dr. Gura.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe study did not show cannabis to cause kidney disease, or a decrease in kidney function in people who do not already have<\/em> CKD [AmericanKidneyFund<\/a>.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you have otherwise healthy kidneys, cannabis is not likely to cause problems in that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you already have kidney disease, it\u2019s best to stay away from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kidney patients should always discuss every supplement and treatment they take with their nephrologist and<\/a> internist in Beverly Hills<\/a>, Dr. Victor Gura<\/a>. A medical marijuana-prescribing doctor is not a kidney specialist and may not know about the research showing risks associated specifically with kidney disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use marijuana recreationally– just as with smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol– it is important to let your nephrologist and<\/a> internist in Beverly Hills<\/a> know about it so they can look at your body\u2019s function in context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n View the American Kidney Fund\u2019s \u201cTips for Talking to Your Doctor\u201d for ideas <\/a>on how to broach the topic of medications at your visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many commonplace herbal supplements interact with prescription drugs you may be taking. Some examples are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n [NationalKidneyFoundation<\/a>.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have a kidney transplant, any interaction between these supplements and your prescriptions could put you at risk of losing the kidney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Herbal supplements that have a diuretic effect are sometimes known as \u201cwater pills\u201d because they basically drain the water from your body. It is important to know that these can cause kidney irritation or damage. \u201cThese include bucha leaves and juniper berries. UvaUrsi and parsley capsules may also have bad side effects [NationalKidneyFoundation<\/a>.]\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Victor Gura is a board-certified kidney specialist and <\/a>internist in Beverly Hills,<\/a> West Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Gura specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney disease as well as dialysis technology. He is the inventor of the WAK, the Wearable Artificial Kidney: \u201ca portable, ergonomically designed dialysis device that enables patients to experience the benefits of daily dialysis while performing their normal, day-to-day routines.\u201d Dr. Gura is also an internist and provides routine checkups. Contact Victor Gura, MD at (310)550-6240, or Book Online Today<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a kidney patient, should you be using alternative treatments along with your prescribed drugs to help you feel better? The internet is full of tempting but often misleading– or outright false– information about medical marijuana and other alternative medicines. You must find ways to separate fact from fiction and become an empowered patient in … Leer m\u00e1s<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3055"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3058,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions\/3058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drgura.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Medical Marijuana<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reasons Kidney Patients Use It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why Kidney Patients Should Not Use Marijuana<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Does Marijuana Cause Kidney Disease?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Talk to Your Doctor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Drug Interactions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Can Herbal Medicines Interfere with Other Medications I Take?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Diuretics aka \u201cWater Pills\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Internist in Beverly Hills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n