Renal Week 2: I'm still not sure what aldosterone does. Seems important, though! 🤔🤔— Niaree Davis (@niaree) December 1, 2016
@niaree @kidney_boy Na is tiny&goes right thru glomerulus. Need means to effect controlled reabsorption or you'll be sodium-free in 2 hours😱— J. Brian Byrd, MD MS (@thebyrdlab) December 8, 2016
@kidney_boy @niaree Signific of aldosterone highly dependent on sodium intake? Not sure Yanomami man could survive 5 mg lisinopril, ca 1970?— J. Brian Byrd, MD MS (@thebyrdlab) December 8, 2016
I had no idea what Yanomami man was but Brian was right there:
@kidney_boy @niaree Here's an old paper describing the Yanomami population that is interesting https://t.co/XzhZ1AGfTp— J. Brian Byrd, MD MS (@thebyrdlab) December 8, 2016
So the paper is available for free here and it shows a kidney homeostatic system performing in ways that I would have guessed were impossible.
A 24-hour urine sodium of 1 mmol. No fricken way!
I give you table 4:
Anybody want to hazard a guess at what the giant unmeasured anion in the urine is?
Phosphate?
Bicarbonate?
Probably bicarb, especially when you take a gander at their aldo levels:
