People say that dinosaurs are extinct but apparently, that is not the case. You see, there are some of us who grew up and learned about nephrology in different times, times with no internet, no smartphone, no social media. A time that we might now refer to as the golden age, while others, who are younger and with far better skin, will refer to it as the age of dinosaurs. If you are one of these, likely to roar in frustration when opening one social media platform or the other, we have a podcast just for you. Meet Samira Farouk, a trail blazing social media nephrologist and much more, who will try to teach us dinosaurs how to tackle the jungle of social media. There’s stuff out there in the jungle that you might want to know about. Check out the new podcast - Social media in nephrology, a crash course, with Samira Farouk, only on A Pinch of Salt.  

CKD-MBD can be a most confusing field. When we start learning about it, we are usually focused on lowering PTH levels, only to find out that in many scenarios high PTH levels are the consequence of PTH resistance and that overactivity of PTH might not even be the issue. But maybe PTH is not what we should be focusing on, maybe it’s phosphate and yet, how do we lower that efficiently? Treatment with vitamin D can lower PTH and increase phosphate. But at the end of the day, laboratory results might not be the main problem, maybe we should really focus on vascular calcifications? It’s complicated. We tried to untangle these dilemmas with Mathias Haarhaus, the current Chair of the CKD-MBD Working Group, in our new Podcast on CKD-MBD. Learn how to take care of your patients from someone with a lot of experience. It will certainly help. 

National and international renal registries have significantly diversified their activities in recent years. The ERA Registry is committed to a wide range of population-based research activities. With extensive accumulated experience and a top-class staff, it is engaged in numerous research projects, cohort studies, and other scientific initiatives. Alberto Ortiz is the Chair of the ERA Registry Committee and is involved in groundbreaking research projects, including assistance with coding and definitions, as well as the EQUAL study. Check it out! 

Being a young doctor must be one of the toughest positions a person can find themselves in. The key to success in medicine is experience which is the one thing you cannot have as a young doctor. That is why having a mentor, or mentors is essential. However, being in contact with your peers is also important. Sharing trials and tribulations with someone your own age is not only comforting but also informative. The world is a global place and contact with young professionals around Europe might be just the thing you need. That’s why we would like to encourage you, dear young nephrologist, to become an active member of the Young Nephrologists’ Platform: the YNP. Find out how you can join the numerous projects available, to gain new experiences, to grow as a person and as a doctor. Have a listen to our new podcast with Orsolya Cseprekál, the current Chair of the YNP to find out more. 

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. Wise words from Joni Mitchell that you might find in her famous song Big Yellow Taxi. People who have never had problems sleeping have absolutely no idea how difficult life becomes when you can’t sleep properly or well enough. It’s literally a nightmare, only you're awake, and it seems like it lasts forever. Unfortunately, this nightmare is incredibly common in CKD patients, particularly in patients with end-stage kidney disease. It’s up to us to identify these patients, because if we don’t do it, it’s unlikely others will. We owe it to them because nowadays we have therapies that can work and help people sleep again. Let’s help people sleep again. Do you want to know how? Learn how to tackle sleep disorders in the podcast with Mark Unruh, a leading expert in sleep disorders in patients with CKD. Who knows, maybe this information will help your life at some point. 

The more time is passing, the more we find the importance and the density of the functional interconnections between the kidney and the heart. If you treat one of them, you might potentially improve the other and the number of therapeutic agents with combined cardiorenal efficacy ever increases. We will have the honor and the pleasure of discussing cardiorenal medicine with Patrick Mark from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. A specialist on this matter in a most exciting session registered face to face during the ERA Stockholm Congress. Do not hesitate to join us on this fascinating journey of interconnection between the kidney and the heart.