Maintain Kidney Transplant with Oral Health & Medication

Today’s video is about how to maintain kidney transplant to allow it to last as long as possible and what you can do about it.

The first piece of research from the kidney research clinical practice journal January 2022 “the effect of periodontitis on recipient outcomes after kidney transplantation” So if you have bad oral health it is not going to allow your kidney transplant to function as well and last as long as it should.

That’s just basic and simple. This has nothing to do with supplements or diet, it’s just about keeping good oral health. Ideally you should brush your teeth three times a day, floss once daily, and you can also use an antiseptic mouthwash. That really covers your complete oral health very well.

Brushing three times a day may be difficult. A lot of people often miss but at least twice a day morning and night and do a really good job of brushing too. Make sure you’re cleaning your teeth well, you’re getting all of your teeth, and also see the dentist. The dentist is really important to do your cleanings every six months to a year checkups. Make sure your oral health is good because without it your kidney is just not going to be functioning as well and last as long. So that’s something simple. You don’t have to change anything in your diet or take any more pills; just good oral health. So that’s one thing to do. Make sure to see our other videos about kidney transplants.

The second thing is from the transplant immunology journal March 2022 “effective alipurinol drug use on gfr and proteinuria and patients with renal transplants” So what this drug does is lowers uric acid your uric acid could be a complication of kidney disease and also kidney transplants. A lot of times you’ll know if yours is high if you have a gout attack which can generally happen in your big toe. It can also happen other places in your body but you’ll know that you’ll see your doctor and they’ll see that and they’ll give you a medication to lower it. A lot of times though you don’t feel gout attacks you could have a high uric acid level so you should always know what your uric acid level is. You can get it tested by your doctor to see what it is.

What they did in this study was that they took people that had uric acid levels at seven and they were having some symptoms so they were having some gout flare-ups and they looked to lower them to a six and they found in six months that allopurinol this drug not just lowered the uric acid but also helped maintain and support their kidney function over the placebo group.

This is something you can always talk to your doctor about even if you don’t have symptoms and your uric acid level is over seven. It is a strategy that some people use to help keep it low and help preserve their renal function as best as you can. Now I don’t have symptoms but I have a high uric acid that runs in the nines and I take a medication to lower it. I take it like four days a week which keeps it under seven. I don’t use allopurinol, I use another one but you can bet the next time I meet with my nephrologist or my transplant nephrologist I’m gonna be bringing up this study and maybe it’s an idea for me to switch.

I’m gonna get their input, they’re the experts on drugs so that’s something you can check. Do those two things, good oral health and make sure you get your uric acid level tested. Make sure you request and look for it on your blood work. A lot of people say “well my doctor checks everything,” and I can tell you a large percentage of doctors are not checking uric acid levels. Make sure to get it checked.