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THE BEAN:
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  In our previous Kidney Korner segment, we learned how the kidneys filter the blood, briefly touching on urine production. This post will expand on the role that the kidneys play in the production of urine as a waste product.
What is urine?: Urine is a result of the filtering process in the kidneys. Urine is a watery, yellow-ish liquid that is one of the primary methods of waste removal for the body. What’s in urine?: Urine is made up of water, urea, creatinine, salts, ammonia and pigments from blood breakdown. Where urine is produced?: Nephrons contain glomerulus connected to tubules. The blood enters the nephron, gets filtered through the glomerulus, and waste products get separated from the blood and the products that will be returned to the body. The renal tubules will carry the urine to the ureters that will deposit it in the urinary bladder until it’s time for urination. For more information on nephrons and glomerulus, see our last Kidney Korner post on the blood filtering process here. How Dr. Munjal Helps: Fluid intake and urine output are key components in determining kidney function. If the kidneys stop producing urine, that is a major indicator that the kidneys are no longer functioning as they should be. Dr. Munjal can order urine studies to determine how much urine your body creates in a 24 hour period and the levels of the key components that make up urine.
Munjal’s Musings: “Urine naturally has a yellow-ish color and an odor due to the chemicals within it. For example, when you are out doing yard work, your kidneys stop producing as much urine so the body can maintain a balance, hence the urine becomes darker and has a stronger odor as it is more concentrated. When you come back inside and drink more fluids, your urine becomes lighter and often smells less. This happens because your body has excess fluid and can dilute your urine. The urine chemical concentration is dependent on fluids and naturally changes color and odor to adjust.” Resources: Mayo Clinic- Urinalysis If you have any questions or concerns about your urine production or kidney function, call our office to schedule a consultation with Dr. Munjal.  Reminders can help us stay on track and on-time for appointments, taking medications, blood pressure, and other tasks that we may easily forget about. Some medications and other health trackers may need to be taken or used around the same time each day for consistency and accuracy.
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Alexa and Home Assistant Devices: Your home assistant can be set to remind you about your alarms and appointments. Address your Alexa or Google Assistant by name and ask it to set a reminder. It will walk you through the steps and ask various questions to assist. Reminder Apps: There are various smartphone apps that can be downloaded to help with reminders as well if the above options don’t seem to work best for your individual needs. A simple search for ‘Reminder Apps’ can be completed on the Apple App store or Google Play store. We hope these tips and tricks help! If you have suggestions or recommendations for setting reminders and staying on track, please feel free to share with our office.  Having a back-up supply of medications is especially important during hurricane season and with the ongoing pandemic. We recommend that you keep at least two weeks worth of medications on-hand in case there are any issues with access to certain prescriptions, delays at the pharmacy, or physician office closures. We recommend that refills are requested two weeks before the last dose is to be taken.
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Safe medication storage practices are also very important. Keeping medications out of reach from children and animals can be life-saving. Ensure that medications are in locations that children and pets cannot reach or are locked away. Find medication safety information from the CDC here. Review our related post on disaster preparedness on The Bean: Kidney Empowerment here. As always, stay safe!  The Bean will be featuring a Book of The Month (BoTM) as we continue to deepen our passion for education and empowerment. We want to inspire, spark curiosity, and encourage honesty through personal growth within our team and patients.
Our first BoTM is The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West. How it applies to our patients: Many nephrology patients face a number of changes that can affect the way they live their lives. This can include medication changes, lifestyle changes, or need for continuous treatment, like dialysis. This can create an immense amount of stress for the patients that can affect their mental and physical health. The Coffee Bean can give our patients the perspective that they, too, are a coffee bean that has the power within them to transform their environment and conditions. A positive mindset can make all the difference in the patient’s care. How it has helped our office: This book has helped our office cultivate an environment that encourages our patients and staff to not let our circumstances change who they are. We want to create a place for learning, honesty, and respect, empowering everyone who walks through the door to encourage and facilitate positive change. Our favorite quotes:
Check back monthly to find out what book our office read to continue to empower and inspire our team and patients! |
