Could A Keto Diet Treat Polycystic Kidney Disease?

I'm sorry for your nephew and his mother, PKD sounds like a nasty one!

I would be wary of anything shouting "New Treatment' when the whole story is based on a single team's study in rodents, even though this is the way most new treatments start out.
I'd be even more wary if the boss of the study, Thomas Weimbs in this case, is telling he'll sell a specific supplement, based on this one lab's rodent study. From the article you've linked:

"For those with polycystic kidneys who could use an assist with ketosis, whether or not they need to lose weight or wish to change their diets, the Weimbs lab is developing a dietary supplement to add BHB to their regular intake. This patent-pending nutritional supplement would be similar to commercially available ketone products being offered"

There might be something there, or there might not.
This study/marketing doesn't sound very trustworthy to me.
Still, it would be wonderful if it worked in humans as well, preferably without the starving, which is what they did to the rodents!

Winnie53 said:

My friend's 12 year old nephew has Polycystic Kidney Disease, as does his mother, and his grandfather who sadly died from the disease. Following a discussion about carbonated and caffeinated beverages, I wanted to learn more about diet for this condition. This article really surprised me, particularly this section of the article - (I bolded the specific reference to glucose, also the inhibiting effect of ketones on kidney cysts)...

Ketosis, the underlying metabolic state of popular diets such as the ketogenic diet, and, to a lesser extent, time-restricted feeding (a form of intermittent fasting), has been shown in the Weimbs group’s studies to stall and even reverse PKD.

“The cysts appear to be largely glucose-dependent,” Weimbs explains. In people with the predisposition toward PKD, the continuous supply of sugar in the high-carbohydrate, high-sugar diets of modern culture serve to feed the growth and development of the fluid-filled sacs.

“Ketosis is a natural response to fasting,” Weimbs says. “When we fast, our carbohydrate reserves are very quickly used up. In order to not die, our bodies switch over to a different energy source and that comes from our fat reserves.”

The body, he continues, breaks down the fat reserves into fatty acids and ketones which then take the place of glucose in providing energy to the body. The researchers found that the presence of ketones in the blood stream in particular inhibits the growth of the kidney cysts. And with a steady supply, ketones actually acted to reverse the condition in their animal studies.
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https://www.futurity.org/polycystic-kidney-disease-food-2188002/

The work appears in the journal Cell Metabolism. Additional researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of Missouri; and the University of Alabama.

Source: UC Santa Barbara

Original Study DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.09.012

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Winnie - Have you had a look at Jason Fung's website? He is after all a Consultant Nephrologist, so may have commented somewhere on PKD.

Unfortunately, PKD sounds like a real lottery condition, whereby some do really well, long-term, and others progress quickly.

Winnie53 said:

The reason I posted this is because there is NO treatment for PKD, only kidney transplant. It slowly kills you. NO supplements needed. Just follow a keto diet, which I've been doing for 5 years. All lab work improved dramatically, as did my husbands, and he doesn't even have diabetes.

Think about it. If it took 50 years for the keto diet to be acknowledged and accepted as an effective diet for T2DM, do you really think someone with PKD has 50 years from today for this treatment to be accepted for their condition? They'll die waiting.

If I had PKD, I'd try keto and see how it affects my kidney health. It was good enough for our ancestors, so why not?

I think Professor Benjamin Bikman is on to something: many modern diseases are driven by over consumption of starches and sugars.

I've followed Jason Fung's work for a long time. If he has anything to say about PKD, would appreciate a link. I just haven't come across anything. Maybe I missed it.

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I think anyone being diagnosed with a medical condition with potential to impact their longevity and quality of life could be wise to think about improving their general health, to minimise other "stuff" joining in with their medical issues. Whether that is a LC, Keto or any other treatment, it's all the same.

In this life, what people do is up to them. If everyone waits to be told what to do, that's not how change happens, but each individual has to be accountable for their own well-being, and accept the risks the might take.

The thing about so many of these "progressive" conditions is that it is rarely understood how things will move along for any given individual, and whether they will be severely impacted or not. The only person I know diagnosed with PKD had that diagnosis in response to an insurance medical in his 50s. feeling fully fit and healthy. (He's actually still doing very well about 15 years later, having changed very little, aside from having a mental burden to carry in terms of his PKD.)

I'm rather hoping our friend will expire (many moons from now), living with PKD, rather than it be a large factor in his way to the exit, but who knows.

Jason Fung is a very clever man, but I haven't read everything he has generated. My pointer in his direction was his specialism is Nephrology.

I wish your friend well.