Polycystic Disease

Polycystic disease affecting the kidneys is an inherited disease which is transmitted in an autosomal dominant trait (which means that you only have to have one defective gene to develop the condition, and that if you have it statistically 50 per cent of your offspring will also develop it). After the age of 20 the kidney substance is progressively replaced by cysts, causing abdominal pain, urinary tract infections, haematuria and possibly progressive renal failure. There may also be cysts in the liver and pancreas, and in some cases there are associated aneurysms affecting arteries in the brain. The treatment is to treat the complications as they arise, but endstage renal failure may require dialysis and transplantation.
 
 
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