World Kidney Day: Kidney disease — common, dangerous but preventable

By Dr Hemal A Shah

World kidney Day is celebrated all over the world on the second Thursday of March every year. This occasion has been started to create awareness about kidney disease and inculcate lifestyle changes to prevent kidney disease. Prevention of kidney disease has become the need of the hour as we are amidst a pandemic of kidney failure. Kidney disease is common, dangerous, and preventable.

Common Cause of Kidney Disease

In a survey carried out with the help of a grant for the SEEK study by Mass General, USA, it was discovered that one in 10 adults in India had chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease signifies an irreversible damage to the kidney which unfortunately is progressive culminating in end-stage kidney disease.

India is now the world capital of diabetes. This is the result of the Indian diet infamous for high carbohydrates and low protein. Indian consumption of sugar remains higher than the world average. Rapid urbanisation and lack of physical activity has added to the spread of this rather dangerous but silent disease. Blood pressure or hypertension is also another common cause for kidney disease. One in four adults have BP undetected blood pressure. High salt in our diets is primarily responsible for this. Both diabetes and hypertension are silent and hence go undetected for months and years leading to organ damage in the eyes, brain, heart, liver, peripheral circulation apart from the kidney. Other common causes for kidney disease include stones in the kidney particularly in dry and arid areas with high mineral content in the water. There are plenty of other causes which add to the burden of chronic kidney disease.

Risk Associated with Kidney Disease

Kidney disease is dangerous. Firstly, deteriorating kidney function affects physiological working of all other organs due to the collection of toxins in the blood. These toxins normally flush out through a functioning kidney but as kidney function deteriorates and patients land in kidney failure these toxins collect in the body and have a negative impact on the functioning of other body organs. The silent nature of this problem prevents early detection and leads to late presentation which makes it more dangerous. And in addition, the treatment in the form of dialysis and kidney transplant is expensive and out of bounds for most patients just makes it financially dangerous too.

Regular Practice for Prevention

Fortunately, kidney disease is preventable. Every individual above the age of 30 must check their blood pressures 2 to 3 times a year and blood sugars once a year. This will help early detection of two of the commonest causes leading to kidney disease. Once detected to have diabetes, regular medications following lifestyle and dietary changes becomes a must. Frequent checking of blood sugars at home using a home monitoring machine is a cornerstone of preventing organ damage from diabetes. Fasting sugars in the range of 100-110, post meals sugars of around 140 and three-month average (HbA1C) of below seven needs to be always achieved. Those with blood pressures must start with lifestyle changes of reduction in salt, exercise and meditation for stress relief followed by medications taken daily and for life. At all times blood pressure must remain less than 140/80. Frequent blood pressure checks which may include Ambulatory BP Monitoring must be incorporated as a regular practice. Those who are hypertensive, and diabetic must have an annual check-up looking at a simple urine test and serum creatinine level with an EGFR (more specific for kidney function). The annual check-up may also include heart, liver, and other organ tests. This will lead to early detection of any organ dysfunction including the kidney and initiating care to prevent damage from worsening. There are such preventive goals and practices for other kidney ailments too. And hence this disease if detected early can be prevented and the burden of kidney disease can be controlled or even reduced in the years to come. That is the exact reason why world kidney Day needs to be celebrated. This year the motto of World Kidney Day 2022 is “Kidney health for all”. And I hope that this article is a small step in achieving that target.

(The author is Consultant Nephrologist, Bhatia Hospital Mumbai. The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult medical experts and health professionals before starting any therapy, medication and/or remedy. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online.)