Q: My mother is 73 years old. Her blood pressure is 160/90 and she is taking carvadil 150 mg. Long ago her thyroid was removed and she is taking eltroxin for that. Recently we found that only 40% of her kidney is functioning. She is taking polybion, gemval, nucarnit, maxepa and diacobal. She gets unbearable pain in the left leg below the knee. Her nephrologist says that it is due to kidney inefficiency. How can she get rid of the pain?

A:Kidney insufficiency does cause bone disease due to decrease in vitamin D formation as well as increased levels of parathormone, a hormone secreted by parathyroid glands. This hormone removes calcium from bone and makes them weak. The bone pains are usually generalised. I am not sure if the pain in left leg is related to kidney disease. I think your mother needs to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I hope her uric acid is not too high to cause gout. Local causes unrelated to kidney disease also need to be considered & ruled out.