The Disease

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is a genetic disease whereby fluid-filled cysts grow inside your kidneys. This process can take many years, some people can go their whole life without knowing they had PKD.

There are two types of PKD: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD)

• Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Signs and symptoms of ADPKD often develop between the ages of 30 and 40. In the past, this type was called adult polycystic kidney disease, but children can develop the disorder.

Only one parent needs to have the disease for it to pass to the children. If one parent has ADPKD, each child has a 50 percent chance of getting the disease. This form accounts for about 90 percent of cases of polycystic kidney disease.

• Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). This type is far less common than is ADPKD. The signs and symptoms often appear shortly after birth. Sometimes, symptoms don't appear until later in childhood or during adolescence.

Both parents must have abnormal genes to pass on this form of the disease. If both parents carry a gene for this disorder, each child has a 25 percent chance of getting the disease.

I have this one.

I was diagnosed in 2003, the only symptom I had was extreme headaches. The nurses at school didn’t know what it was so they sent me to a specialist in Durban. It was during an ultrasound of my abdomen that we discovered the cysts in the kidney.

Below is a picture of an ultrasound of a kidney with PKD, the dark spots are cysts.

Kidney with polycystic disease