In this video, Robert talks about the impacts of secondary hyperparathyroidism on kidney disease. He references a study from the Clinical Kidney Journal, January 2021. This study was thoroughly performed with a group of CKD sufferers from stages 1 to 5. They observed how many of them developed secondary hyperparathyroidism.

 

What Is Secondary Hyperparathyroidism?
It’s a condition that occurs when your parathyroid glands are enlarged and hyperactive due to disease outside the parathyroid glands. Major causes for secondary hyperparathyroidism vitamin D deficiency and kidney failure.

 

The parathyroid glands are four small glands located behind the neck and they secrete a hormone that regulates your blood calcium levels. The parathyroid glands play a huge role in maintaining calcium levels as any major imbalances can lead to harmful outcomes. Robert highly recommends getting your parathyroid (PTH) levels checked if you have any kidney issues.

 

Around 2500 people participated in the study and 750 of them developed secondary hyperparathyroidism. In the study, they observed that those who developed secondary hyperparathyroidism had a worse survival rate, a faster CKD progression rate (5x faster), and they found cardiovascular issues like heart disease and fractures.

 

The biggest piece of advice you can take from this video is to get your parathyroid levels checked. You can ask your doctor to have your PTH levels looked at. There are many things you can do if your PTH levels are high on your bloodwork and controlling these levels are realistic and manageable. Calcitriol is a medication that has a high success rate in controlling elevated PTH levels. 

 

Your main goal here should be to get your parathyroid levels tested. Most individuals with kidney problems disregard this issue as they just don’t if they have high PTH levels because they’ve never looked into their parathyroid levels. Any nephrologist or kidney doctor shouldn’t have an issue in testing your PTH levels as this is one area many people fail to address. Addressing this issue may slow your kidney disease progression. 

 

The Benefits Of Vitamin D For Hyperparathyroidism

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