KIDNEY HEALTH FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE

World Kidney Day is focused on ‘Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere’. Let us all join forces to raise awareness, encourage prevention and education to fight this disease and overcome this major public health issue. A person can lose up to 90% of their kidney function before experiencing any symptoms. Most people have no symptoms until CKD is advanced. Signs of advancing CKD include swollen ankles, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased appetite, blood in the urine and foamy urine. The majority of individuals with early stages of CKD go undiagnosed. On WKD we are calling on everyone to check if they are at risk for Kidney Disease and encouraging people with any risk factors to take a simple Kidney Function Test.

Dr.Rekha, Senior Consultant Nephrologist, CARE Hospitals, Hitech City, Hyderabad, talks about the early detection of failing kidney function because it allows suitable treatment before kidney damage or deterioration manifests itself through other complications. Simple laboratory tests need to be done on small samples of blood (to measure creatinine content and estimate GFR) and on urine (to measure creatinine and albumin excretion) before consulting a doctor. A simple “dipstick” test may be used to detect excess protein in the urine. Your doctor uses the results of your Serum Creatinine measured in the blood to estimate your overall kidney function, or Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and your blood sugar to be sure you do not have Diabetes.

Kidney Disease usually progresses silently, often destroying most of the kidney function before causing any symptoms. The early detection of failing kidney function is crucial, because it allows suitable treatment before kidney damage or deterioration manifests itself through other complications.

8 Golden Rules for Prevention:

Kidney Disease is a silent killer, which will largely affect your quality of life. There are, however, several easy ways to reduce the risk of developing Kidney Disease.

Secondary Prevention - slowing disease progression: Key preventative measures have been defined and proven successful in those with early stages of CKD as secondary prevention measures, which help slow disease progression and protect against both kidney and Cardiovascular Disease, such as:

•     Reduction of High Blood Pressure: The lower the blood pressure (within the normal range), the slower the GFR decline

•     Specific medications to reduce proteinuria as well as lower blood pressure – angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs):

•      Reduced salt intake to lower blood pressure

•      Control of glucose, blood lipids, and anaemia

•      Smoking cessation

•      Increase in physical activity

•      Control of body weight

Treatment :

Clinical research over the last two decades has shown the potential benefit of the blockade of the renin-angiotensin system by medicines known as ACE inhibitors and ARBs. This can significantly delay the progression of CKD, especially in people with Diabetes and Hypertension at a relatively low cost.