Mini-Med at McGill: Question and Answer Corner

Mini-Med Study Corner

PHYSIOLOGY: KEEPING OUR BODIES IN BALANCE
Sarah Prichard

Click here for an MP3 audio file of
Dr. Sarah Prichard's Question and Answer session.

Recorded October 23, 2002
(This mp3 file is ~31 mins long, 5.4 Megs)

Written Question and Answer Section:

1. What is water intoxication? Can you drink too much water?

If you are normal it is almost impossible to drink too much water i.e. to drink more water than the kidney can excrete. Our normal kidneys can excrete 15-20 liters in a day. However, if you are sick and must take medications for conditions such as heart failure, the kidneys are not normal and may not be able to excrete very large amounts of water.

2. How long can patients stay on dialysis without receiving a new kidney?

We have patients who have been on dialysis for 20-30 years. It can keep people functioning quite well for a very long period of time. But the quality of life for patients successfully transplanted is better than for patients who are kept on dialysis. Many patients die long before they have been on dialysis for 20-30 years. That is because most patients requiring dialysis also have other life limiting problems such as heart disease, diabetes, cancers etc.

3. What is the difference between a nephrologist and a urologist?

Urologists do surgery on the urinary tract e.g. prostate surgery, remove kidney stones etc.. Nephrologists are the medical side of kidney disease and we treat kidney failure, hypertension etc..

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