Doctor's Insight

Daily at-home dental care is essential for preventing gum disease, tooth decay and tooth loss. However, this alone is not enough. What we need is professional care by dental hygienists. It is said that 97.7% of teeth can be saved by receiving professional care during your regular dental checkups. In this episode, a dental hygienist will introduce ways to improve your daily lifestyle, demonstrate how to brush properly and talk about methods for dental cleaning and saliva secretion that will lead to a healthy smile.

Chronic kidney disease, or CKD, involves a gradual loss of kidney function. When it progresses, the patient must undergo dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to live. CKD is closely related to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and obesity. In the 27 years since 1990, the prevalence of CKD has increased by approximately 30%, affecting one out of every 11 people. Early detection of CKD is important, because there are no noticeable symptoms. In this episode, find out the mechanisms and the latest testing methods for CKD.

The basic approach to slow chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression is restricting protein intake. However, this can lead to sarcopenia, a condition of significant muscle loss, among elderly patients. As sarcopenia can worsen the overall condition of your body, a decision must be made whether to prioritize the management of CKD or sarcopenia. Find out the latest on the nutritional approach to sarcopenia in chronic kidney disease patients.

In most cases, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is caused by lifestyle diseases. The basic approach to slow the progression of the disease is making lifestyle changes, such as eating healthy and exercising. However, if this still does not slow the decline in kidney function, medication is used. Up until recently, drugs made for diabetes and hypertension were being used. In 2021, however, SGLT2 Inhibitor, a drug that works directly on CKD itself became available in Japan, the US and in Europe. Find out about the advancements in medications for treating CKD.

When chronic kidney disease (CKD) progresses to end-stage kidney failure, the kidneys lose their functions and the patient needs to undergo kidney replacement therapy, which replaces their functions. They include hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplant. In this episode, we will focus on the features and precautions of hemodialysis, the most common type of therapy. In particular, hemodialysis patients are prone to develop sarcopenia, a decrease in muscle mass. Also, find out about another option known as conservative kidney management.