Kidney conditions

• Can I talk to a doctor on Gotodoctor.ca about my kidney disease?

Yes, Gotodoctor.ca provides virtual care services for kidney diseases. A doctor will take a comprehensive in-depth history and may provide you with prescriptions. Depending on the severity of symptoms further recommendations will be provided. If a patient is suffering from a severe kidney disease that needs renal replacement therapy, the doctor will direct him/her to clinic treatment.

• What are kidney diseases?

Kidney diseases involve dysfunction of the renal system. They may involve infectious exposure, deposition of different compounds in the form of renal stones and other comorbidities directly affecting the fluid retention, glomerular filtration rate of the kidneys^{[1, 2]}. Laboratory testing can confirm the diagnosis which may include a urine test to indicate level or traces of albumin and a blood test to look for working of the kidneys^[3].

• What are the symptoms of kidney diseases?

Decreased urine output, severe dehydration, fluid retention and swelling in the legs and most distal extremities such as ankle and foot are most likely shown involvement of some kind of acute or chronic involvement of kidney^[4]. A doctor will be able to diagnose renal pain by identifying characteristic symptoms. Symptoms associated with renal pain are also radiating pain from your abdomen towards your back, shortness of breath^[5]. Due to nausea and vomiting, food intake is reduced and there is an observable weight loss.

• How are kidney diseases treated?

A doctor decides on treatment after taking a comprehensive history of the patient. First of all, life-threatening conditions such as chronic renal failure are excluded by the doctor. Pain relief medications may be prescribed to make the patient free of pain^[6]. Prescriptions for diuretics may be given if required, to promote kidney function^{[7, 8]}. Dialysis is an advanced treatment option available for later stages of renal diseases^[9-11]. Early treatment of the underlying pathology by the doctor ie needed to protect patient from progression of the disease^{[12, 13]}

• How can an online doctor on Gotodoctor.ca treat kidney disease?

Online doctors on Gotodoctor.ca treat kidney disease through virtual care services. An appointment can be easily made with an online doctor. Kidney disease can be treated via virtual care methods^{[9, 10, 12, 14-20]}. An online doctor will take a comprehensive history of your signs and symptoms and may provide you with prescriptions. Prescriptions can be obtained by online doctors. Virtual care services provided by Gotodoctor.ca assure comfort, convenience and a higher level of care for the patient.

References

1. Levey, A.S. and J. Coresh, Chronic kidney disease. The lancet, 2012. 379(9811): p. 165-180.
2. Naqvi, S.B. and A.J. Collins, Infectious complications in chronic kidney disease. Advances in chronic kidney disease, 2006. 13(3): p. 199-204.
3. Tangri, N., et al., A predictive model for progression of chronic kidney disease to kidney failure. Jama, 2011. 305(15): p. 1553-1559.
4. Romagnani, P., et al., Chronic kidney disease. Nature reviews Disease primers, 2017. 3(1): p. 1-24.
5. Williams, A. and E. Manias, A structured literature review of pain assessment and management of patients with chronic kidney disease. Journal of clinical nursing, 2008. 17(1): p. 69-81.
6. Laville, S.M., et al., Evaluation of the adequacy of drug prescriptions in patients with chronic kidney disease: results from the CKD‐REIN cohort. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 2018. 84(12): p. 2811-2823.
7. Ingrasciotta, Y., et al., The burden of nephrotoxic drug prescriptions in patients with chronic kidney disease: a retrospective population-based study in Southern Italy. PLoS One, 2014. 9(2): p. e89072.
8. Nelson, D.A., et al., Association of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug prescriptions with kidney disease among active young and middle-aged adults. JAMA network open, 2019. 2(2): p. e187896-e187896.
9. Almathami, H.K.Y., K.T. Win, and E. Vlahu-Gjorgievska, Barriers and Facilitators That Influence Telemedicine-Based, Real-Time, Online Consultation at Patients’ Homes: Systematic Literature Review. J Med Internet Res, 2020. 22(2): p. e16407.
10. Deldar, K., K. Bahaadinbeigy, and S.M. Tara, Teleconsultation and Clinical Decision Making: a Systematic Review. Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH, 2016. 24(4): p. 286-292.
11. Thomas, R., A. Kanso, and J.R. Sedor, Chronic kidney disease and its complications. Primary care: Clinics in office practice, 2008. 35(2): p. 329-344.
12. Eaton, L.H., et al., Development and implementation of a telehealth-enhanced intervention for pain and symptom management. Contemporary clinical trials, 2014. 38(2): p. 213-220.
13. Staub, G.M., J. von Overbeck, and E. Blozik, Teleconsultation in children with abdominal pain: a comparison of physician triage recommendations and an established paediatric telephone triage protocol. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2013. 13: p. 110-110.
14. Gunasekeran, D.V., et al., Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Follow-up for Patients With Abdominal Pain Using Video Consultation (SAVED Study): Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of medical Internet research, 2020. 22(6): p. e17417-e17417.
15. Myers, D.R., et al., Towards remote assessment and screening of acute abdominal pain using only a smartphone with native accelerometers. Scientific Reports, 2017. 7(1): p. 12750.
16. Staub, G., J. Overbeck, and E. Blozik, Teleconsultation in children with abdominal pain: A comparison of physician triage recommendations and an established paediatric telephone triage protocol. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2013. 13: p. 110.
17. Bokolo Anthony, J., Use of Telemedicine and Virtual Care for Remote Treatment in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Medical Systems, 2020. 44(7): p. 132.
18. Wang, X., et al., Impact of Telemedicine on Healthcare Service System Considering Patients’ Choice. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2019. 2019: p. 7642176.
19. Williams, O.E., et al., The use of telemedicine to enhance secondary care: some lessons from the front line. Future healthcare journal, 2017. 4(2): p. 109-114.
20. Vaghef-Davari, F., et al., Approach to Acute Abdominal Pain: Practical Algorithms. Advanced journal of emergency medicine, 2019. 4(2): p. e29-e29.