When living with a chronic illness like kidney disease, it can sometimes feel like the illness is all-consuming. Rewiring the brain to find gratitude can not only support mental health, but also aid in the physical healing process. Mindfulness practices like showing gratitude and meditation can help reduce inflammation, decrease anxiety and depression that are common with chronic illnesses, and even lower blood pressure when done consistently. As a CKD patient, you know that keeping your blood pressure in check is important to slowing the progression of kidney disease. Developing a daily gratitude practice is a great first step toward using your mind to promote well-being in your whole body. Here are a few ways to get started.

February is American Heart Month, and it’s a great time to spread a little love to your body. As many patients with chronic kidney disease in the Cincinnati area also have hypertension or other types of heart disease, it’s important to eat both a dialysis-friendly and heart-healthy diet.

However, these diets serve different purposes and have a few conflicting recommendations. Here are a few things to consider when merging these two diets.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect on the previous and set goals for the months ahead. Maybe you’ve been wanting to make more changes in your life to improve your kidney health and overall wellbeing. For those with chronic kidney disease, taking control of your kidney health might feel a little overwhelming. But there are many steps you can take that can make a big difference in your wellbeing.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than half of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients also have high blood pressure. High blood pressure (HBP), also called hypertension, can increase the chance that your CKD will worsen, making it extremely important for CKD patients to maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and keep blood pressure in check.

Unregulated HBP and chronic kidney disease are inextricably linked – hypertension can cause kidney disease and kidney disease can cause hypertension.

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of CKD. High blood pressure damages blood vessels throughout your body over time, which reduces the blood supply to vital organs like your kidneys. When HBP also damages the filtering bodies in your kidneys, the kidneys can no longer remove toxins, wastes, and excess water from your blood effectively. The extra fluid buildup in the blood vessels can then accelerate hypertension more.