Nepthritis

Nepthritis refers to an inflammation of the kidneys. It is a serious condition and may be either acute orchronic. A synonym for nephthritis is " Bright’s disease, " for Bright (1789-1858) described examples ofmany different diseases which can be included under the term. This disease most often strikes duringchildhood or adolescence. It can become progressively worse and result in death, if not treated properly inthe initial stages. In the alternative , it may subside into a chronic stage where the patient gets better but nottoo well.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of acute nepthritis are pain in the kidneys extending down to the uterus, fever, dull pain inthe back and scanty and highly coloured urine. Often the urine may contain blood, albumin and casts consistingof clumps of red and white cells, which come from damaged kidneys. The patient suffers from puffiness in theface and swelling of the feet and ankles. In the chronic stage of nepthritis, which may drag on for many years,the patient passes large amounts of albumin in the urine. Later there may be rise in blood pressure and thepatient may develop uraemia. There may be frequent urination, especially during night.

Causes

Nepthritis usually follows some streptococcus infection of the throat or an attack of scarlet fever or rheumaticfever. The underlying causes of nepthritis are however, the same as for diseases of the kidneys in general,namely wrong dietary habits, excessive drinking, the suppressive medical treatment of former diseases, thehabitual use of chemical agents of all kinds for the treatment of indigestion and other stomach disorders andfrequent use of aspirin and other painkillers. Nutritional deficiencies can also lead to nepthritis. The disease hasbeen produced in many species of animals by diets deficient in the B vitamin, choline. Animals lacking essentialfatty acids and magnesium also develop nephritis. When vitamin B6 and magnesium are under supplied, thekidneys are further damaged by sharp crystals of oxalic acid combined with calcium. Nepthritis also occurs ifvitamin E is deficient.

Treatment

The safest treatment for acute nepthritis is fasting. By means of the fast, the toxins and systemicimpuritiesresponsible for setting up of the inflammatory kidney conditions are removed rapidly.The patient should resortto juice fasting for seven to ten days till the acute symptoms subside.Mostly vegetable juices such as carrot,celery and cucumber should be used during this period.A warm water enema should be taken each day whilefasting, to cleanse the bowels of the toxicmatter being thrown off by the self-cleansing process resulting fromthe fast.After the juice fast, the patient may adopt an all-fruit diet for four to five days. Juicy fruits suchasapples, grapes, oranges, pears, peaches and pineapples should be taken during this period atfive-hourlyintervals. After the all-fruit diet, the patient may adopt fruits and milk diet. In thisregimen, milk, preferably rawgoat’s milk , may be added to the fruit diet for further seven days.The patient may thereafter gradually embarkupon a well- balanced low protein vegetarian diet,with emphasis on fresh fruits and raw and cookedvegetables.In case of chronic nepthritis a short juice fast for three days may be undertaken. Thereafter, aweekor 10 days may be spent on a restricted diet. In this regimen, oranges or orange juice maybe taken forbreakfast. Lunch may consist of a salad of raw vegetables which are in season, anddinner may consist of oneor two vegetables, steamed in their own juices and a few nuts.Thereafter, the patient may gradually adopt awell- balanced low protein vegetarian diet.Further short juice fasts followed by a week on the restricted dietshould be undertaken atintervals of two or three months until such time as the kidney condition has shown signs of normalisation.