“The presence of excessive amounts of urea and other nitrogenous waste (products) compounds in the blood points to uremic condition. These waste products are normally excreted by the kidneys in urine – their accumulation in the blood occurs in kidney failure and results in nausea, vomiting, lethargy, drowsiness and eventually (if untreated) death. Treatment may require hemodialysis on a kidney machine.” (Harrison)
In some cases of uraemia, there may not be present anuria and in some cases of anuria there may not be uremia. So, presence of one symptom does not necessarily mean presence of other symptom also, though both conditions are closely related to each other one leading to the other and vice versa. The disease can be subdivided into acute and chronic forms.
Types of Uremia
(a) Simple retention of nitrogenous urinary waste – a urinary poisoning.
(b) Due to defective water and salt metabolism, resulting in cerebral edema, and
(c) Toxaemic state, resulting from an abnormal catabolism (Chemical decomposition of complex substances by the body).
Symptoms in Acute Uraemia
– Malaise
– Headache
– Breathessness (or dyspnoea)
– High blood pressure
– Restlessness
– Sommolence
– Convulsions and
– Coma
Symptoms in Chronic Uraemia
– Many of the symptoms referred to above, (in the case of acute stage of uraemia).
– Renal Asthma or Renal I )yspnoea
– Uncontrollable hiccough
– Diarrhoea may/may not ensue
– Marked itching of skin which is dry and harsh
– Before onset of convulsion, pulse is slow, tense and full
– After convulsions set in, pulse is rapid, soft and weak
– Marked variation in temperature which may touch even 107 degree F or even higher before death takes place.
Dangerous and unfavourable symptoms
– Violent convulsions & violent Delirium
– Prolonged Coma
– Presence of indicans in urine (indicanuria)
– Increasing amount of non-protein Nitrogen
– High rate of blood urea
– Steadily increasing rise in temperature
Prognosis is grave and serious and does not give any hope of survival, but chances of survival are rather bleak and depressing. Flemodyalisis may improve the situation if the malady is detected at the inception stage. As for duration, acute stage may last from 2-6 clays whereas mild and chronic states may last for several days/weeks but full chances of recoery are neither bright nor encouraging.
This malady must not be confounded with diabetic Coma.
Treatment: Medicines play hardly any role here because symptoms are so confusing and complex that even a good physician faces problems in treating a case. In very depressing and hopeless cases, especially when kidneys have failed, ‘Kidney transplant’ is the only viable open option. But, in majority of cases: acceptance of a planted kidney of some other person is an innocuous task. Further, if there is any infection after the operation, the patient can return to position of square one-even after spending pounds ofmoney. I am mentioning no medicinal treatment for obvious reasons. In nature cure ‘Hip-bath’, Mud-Pack’ may be tried to allaysome of the symptoms.
[“I am of the view that if allopathic treatment is not affordable or feasible, urine therapy may be tried instead, so as to spare the patient from the burden of expenses and physical torture.” An expert]