Oct 15, 2020
While chronic kidney disease
diagnosis is rare in children, its effects are profound.
Furthermore, there's so much scientists don't know about kidney
function. Keia Sanderson is hoping to change that. She specializes
in
chronic kidney disease treatment in pediatric patients and
discusses avenues to advance treatment and prevention.
This podcast gives her the perfect platform to explain
Keia Sanderson, MD, is an
assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology and
Hypertension at the University of North Carolina School of
Medicine. Her job is a mix of teaching, clinical work, and
research. In her clinical work, she takes care of children with
kidney disease at all stages, including kids who receive
transplants.
Her current research is focused on kidney outcomes in children with
complex medical histories, in particular children who've been born
prematurely. She says that the challenge is oftentimes the
asymptomatic nature of kidney disease in children. Therefore, she
and other clinicians are often meeting kids with disease states
that are irreversible and are turning toward
dialysis treatment and transplantation.
Dr. Sanderson gives listeners a
special focus on the risks from preterm birth. Because preterm
babies tend to have less nephron development, the nephrons that are
present have to work overtime and are subject to hyper filtration.
But because doctors have been able to identify this as a critical
time, they are looking at ways to better manage preterm infant
treatment. For example, what medications are they receiving that
could affect kidney development? How are we feeding infants in this
active development stage? How are we handling their oxygenation?
While a clear pathway is not yet evident, she is hopeful she and
other researches will find one.
Currently, she's hoping to develop mathematical models to make
better predications about the risk levels for different
babies.
For more information, see
the UNC Kidney Center, the National
Kidney Foundation, and
talk to your primary doctor.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK