Thursday, February 11, 2010

Hm, more interesting stuff...

I was doing some reading today and came across an article that said this:
"The number one cause of death of individuals with polycystic kidney disease is left ventricular hypertrophy LVH, or enlargement of the ventricle muscle of the heart."

This made me curious, because my mother (and her father as well) died of Congestive Heart Failure at 62 and 61, respectively, and I wondered if it was linked. So I googled it, and I found quite a few articles and patient references to PKD related CHF.

"Elevated blood pressure and increased left ventricular
mass are associated with congestive heart disease." From the PKD.org website.
Anyway, just another interesting thing to add to the list of things to watch for. I'm just so curious because my mom was never diagnosed with PKD, but from what I've read it varies in degrees, and some people don't even find out they have it until quite later in life, but by that time she had CHF.

I have my next appt. with the kidney doctor on the 28th this month, he wants me to have a follow-up CT-scan to see how the disease is progressing and just make sure everything is good. Will update again then :)






3 comments:

  1. Good luck with your doctor's appointment!

    Coach Richie Perl
    Certified Professional Coach
    Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming

    http://www.InnerGameOfPKD.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, one of your parents must have had it, since it's dominant. Anyway, it's a blessing that you know you have it so you can avoid some of the health problems your mom had just by controlling your lifestyle. :) Love you. Mom

    ReplyDelete