Naturopathic Approach to Kidney Disease

If you are like me, you find kidney disease not only difficult to understand, but generally without many answers from an alternative viewpoint. Additionally, without good kidney functioning, it is risky to prescribe high doses of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. IV therapies, in particular, call for optimal kidney functioning when following protocols for administering chelation, vitamin C, and other nutrients. In the few cases that I administered chelation to a patient with definite abnormal kidney functioning, creatinine and BUN scores did increase. (Surprisingly, some physicians have claimed that their IV protocols have improved creatinine and BUN.) It is therefore with great interest that we present in this issue Dr. Jenna Henderson’s article on diagnosing and managing kidney disease from a naturopathic perspective.

Dr. Henderson focuses on kidney disease not secondary to diabetes and hypertension. Instead she examines the condition frequently seen in children and young adults known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Dr. Henderson reviews the common kidney disease pathologies and notes the relationship of FSGS to minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS). She notes that FSGS is the most common cause of kidney failure in children and accounts for 5% of kidney failure in adults. FSGS is four times more common in African Americans compared with other causes of glomerulonephritis. Although FSGS is generally idiopathic, known causes include HIV and other infections, toxic exposure, and genetic abnormalities. Of interest is that vitamin D deficiency will increase the risk of development and progression of FSGS.

It is interesting that symptoms of FSGS appear to overlap symptoms of hypothyroidism including edema, low basal temperature, cold intolerance, and hypercholesterolemia. Of course, FSGS has symptoms quite unrelated to hypothyroidism, including foaminess in the urine, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, bone loss, muscle atrophy, decreased immunity, and increased platelet stickiness.

Dr. Henderson discusses in detail the conventional medical management of kidney disease and then reviews naturopathic supports for FSGS. It is important to note that herbal therapies are primarily used in addressing FSGS in kidneys that have not been transplanted – patients having transplants must not be given herbal therapies.

Naturopathic Approaches to Dermatology

Not too long ago I worked with a gentleman who had a difficult case of leg eczema. He had been to a few dermatologists, who treated him with moderate steroid creams. The dermatitis did not improve – in fact, it worsened. I recommended the use of a number of nutritional supports, antifungal agents, and intravenous vitamin C. He made slow progress but the eruption persisted. When he saw a new dermatologist, he was prescribed a “super” steroid cream and the eruption abruptly improved. Was this a case in which the alternative therapies were not effective and all he needed was the corticosteroid cream? It would not appear that way, because the first round of steroid creams was not effective. In this issue of the Townsend Letter, two doctors make the case for use alternative approaches to managing skin conditions.

Debbie Whittington, ND, reviews the literature for the use of probiotics in preventing and treating eczema, noting that pre- and postnatal use is effective. Whittington argues that the risks are minimal, so there is good reason to use probiotics in prevention and treatment of eczema. Dr. Ulrike Winter and Prof. med. H. W. Kaiser discuss the effects and uses of sulfur in dermatology. Working with patients at Bad Wiessee, Germany’s strongest iodine-sulfur springs, Winter and Kaiser have observed that the sulfur plays a key role in moderating dermatologic conditions.

Jonathan Collin, MD