Does Smoking Harmful to PKD Patients

Patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) will be told by doctor that their dietary habit is important to their health. As a kind of hereditary Kidney Disease, long-term attention is crucial. There are a lot of requirements of daily life for them such as light diet, more fresh fruits and vegetables, and there are also some forbids, such as do not eat visceral food or alcoholic beverage. But when they are told they can not smoke, they are confused and have no idea why. Here I will explain that.

There is much nicotine in the tobacco, nicotine is a kind of harmful substance, it can cause vasoconstriction and lead to arteriosclerosis, and then the blood-supply in kidneys will reduce. For the patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), if they smoke too much, the blood pressure can not control well, and then hypertension could have an effect on kidneys. Conversely, the damaged kidney will lead to further limited blood supply, so it is a vicious circle.

on the other hand, smoking is also harmful to lungs. Patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) are easy to get cold, which could induce pneumonia, and lung infection will conversely aggravate the nephritis. That is why our hospital does not suggest patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) smoking.

the nursing of PKD Patients:

I Take more rest and avoid severe exercise or sport and abdominal trauma.

II Prevent from urinary tract infection actively, this is more important for female patients.

III Avoid spicy food (such as onion, ginger, garlic, etc), avoid liquor, and avoid dog meat. While being oliguria, the patient needs to control the water intake. In general, the water intake should less than the urine volume on the day before