If you or a loved one is facing a long recuperation time from a surgery, a chronic illness or an injury, you have to be prepared. The kind of equipment, medical or otherwise, you’ll require will of course depend on your condition, your specific health needs, and the orders given to you by your doctor. For instance, you may need to do dressing changes several times a day and special soaks for the area, but other than that you don’t really need anything. Others will have specialized needs for every aspect of their lives from their nutrition, to their sleeping arrangements, and mobility. Every situation is different and every person’s requirements will differ. As the patient recovers, he or she will find need things to be done differently. In the first few days, you may find that you need to have more equipment, medical devices and assistance than you would have imagined necessary. . . . → Read More: Setting Up Your Home for the Recuperation of a Family Member or Yourself

The kidneys are organs that are about four inches long, and are found in the back wall of the abdomen on either side of the spinal column. Their main function is to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood as it flows through these organs. They are not huge in size, but the role that they play is significant. Though they are small (both of them together weigh less than a pound), they process over 18 gallons of blood each hour and filter over half of all of the fluid that is taken in by the body. In the end, the kidneys will excrete up to two quarts of urine during a day’s time. (Source: Every Woman’s Health, 1993). The kidneys are prone to a number of diseases and conditions, some of them very serious and even potentially life threatening. As with many other problems in the body, treating or preventing a number of conditions can begin and end with a better diet by either adding or eliminating certain foods. . . . → Read More: Protein’s Role in Kidney Disease

There are many reasons that humans need to consume enough protein in their daily diets. Proteins play a vital role in virtually every function of the body, including a major role in the building, repair and maintenance of the muscles. Without protein, we would have a serious lack of the eight essential amino acids that are not made by the body, but must instead be supplied by adequate protein consumption or supplementation. And finally, we need to consume protein in adequate amounts or face increasing weight gain because of the role that protein plays in our feelings of satisfaction. It’s not like it would even be possible to eliminate all sources of protein from our diets in the first place, and humans would be very miserable if they could. . . . → Read More: Why Do Humans Need Protein?

Over 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease with many millions more at serious risk of developing it. Early detection is vital to keep the disease from progressing from kidney disease to complete kidney failure. The major cause of death for people who have CKD is heart disease usually related to chronic and uncontrolled hypertension. Chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure are linked with one another: hypertension causes CKD and CKD causes hypertension. Excessive amounts of protein in the urine, medically known as proteinuria suggests the presence of CKD (Source: The National Kidney and Urologic Disease Information Clearinghouse) . . . → Read More: Protein and Stages One Through Four of Kidney Disease