What Is Polycystic Kidney Disease?

Polycystic kidney disease, often called PKD, is a genetic disease where numerous cysts grow in the kidneys. The cysts are filled with fluid and can slowly overrun the kidneys. The cysts reduce kidney function and lead to kidney failure. Over 600,000 Americans have this disease.

Is There a Cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease?
There is no cure for PKD. When polycystic kidney disease causes kidneys to fail - which usually happens only after many years - the patient requires dialysis or a kidney transplant. About 60% of people with the major type of polycystic kidney disease end up with kidney failure.
Polycystic kidney disease has no cure. Treatments include:
* Medicine and surgery to reduce pain
* Antibiotics to cure infections
* Dialysis and transplantation to replace functions of failed kidneys.

Are There More than One Kind of PKD?
There are two major inherited forms and one non-inherited form:
* Autosomal Dominant PKD is the most common, inherited form. Symptoms usually develop between the ages of 30 and 40, but they can begin earlier, even in childhood. About 90 percent of all polycystic kidney disease cases are Autosomal Dominant PKD.
* Autosomal Recessive PKD is a rare, inherited form. Symptoms of autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease begin in the earliest months of life, even in the womb.
* Acquired Cystic Kidney Disease (ACKD) shows up along with long-term kidney problems, especially in patients who have kidney failure and who have been on dialysis for a long time. This form tends to occur in later years of life and is not inherited.
What are the Symptoms of PKD?
* Pain in the back and lower sides
* Headaches
* Urinary tract infections
* Blood in the urine
* Cysts in the kidneys and other organs.
How Will My Doctor Know if I Have PKD?
Polycystic kidney disease can cause cysts in the liver and problems in other organs, such as the heart and blood vessels in the brain. These complications help doctors tell it apart from the usually harmless "simple" cysts that often form in the kidneys in later years of life.
Your doctor will use the following to find out if you have PKD:
* Ultrasound (a test using sound waves to make an image) of kidney cysts
* Ultrasound of cysts in other organs
* Family medical history.

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