Chronic kidney disease rising in India: Doctors
Minimal physical
activity, unhealthy diet, smoking and drinking are some of the reasons that are
resulting in an increased number of chronic kidney diseases - especially among
women - in both rural and urban India. With World Kidney Day celebrated March
8, doctors opined that immediate measures should be taken to the curb the
rising numbers.
"Diseases like
diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high uric acid are on the
rise and kidney disease is very common in these metabolic conditions,"
said Jitender Kumar,
Senior nephrologist
and department Head, Nephrology,
Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS).
Talking about the rise
of kidney disease in women, Kumar said that the lifestyle among women is
changing and an increasing number of metabolic disorders are affecting them--
not only in the higher strata but lower too. "Consuming junk food and
smoking is common among females today. Even in lower strata of society, smoking
"beedis" and
"hookahs" is rampant," said Kumar.
"Last year alone,
we observed out of 1,200 deliveries, many women had high sugar, high blood
pressure, gestational diabetes and hypertension. Out of 11,000 dialysis done
last year, around 40% were women patients." Talking about preventive
measures Sanjeev Saxena, Nephrologist, PSRI Hospital, said that there was low
awareness in India about the disease and its preventive measures.
"In most cases,
the disease is only identified at an advanced stage or end stage. It’s
important that people are aware and realize
the importance of timely intervention," he said.
According to doctors,
in India, estimates indicate that anywhere between 200,000 and 400,000 people
develop end stage kidney disease (kidney failure) each year.
Agreed, Sunil Prakash, Nephrologist,
BLK Superspeciality hospital: "Given
the difficult circumstances, it’s best to promote simple screenings such as
urine and blood tests as well as ultrasound, particularly for patients with
diabetes and hypertension."
"Timely diagnosis
and treatment can most certainly delay and even prevent kidney failure, totally
avoiding the need for troublesome dialysis," he added. More and more
Indians should donate their kidneys, expressed the doctors further.
"We should pledge
to donate kidneys and give the gift of life to another human being in need, in
face of acute shortage of kidney donors," said NK Pandey
Pandey ,Chief Surgeon and
Chairman and Managing Director, AIMS.
The National Kidney
Foundation of India estimates that 100 people in a million suffer from kidney
ailments in India and around 90,000 kidney transplants are required annually in
India.
Source: www.dnaindia.com
15.06.2012
Gujarati & Hindi website to educate on kidney ailments
A Rajkot-based
nephrologist, Dr Sanjay Pandya has launched a website to create awareness and
provide more information about kidneys in Gujarati. The 11-month-old website -
www.kidneyingujarati.com - has received tremendous response and it has got 25
lakh hits within a short span.
Dr Pandya said that it
is important to raise awareness regarding how to keep the kidney healthy and
prevent kidney-related diseases because, of late, there has been a rise in
number of kidney patients.
The website is also
available in Hindi (www.kidneyinhindi.com).
It gives information about kidneys, symptoms of kidney-related diseases, its diagnosis, myths associated with kidney-related diseases and medication available for the same.
It gives information about kidneys, symptoms of kidney-related diseases, its diagnosis, myths associated with kidney-related diseases and medication available for the same.
The website also offers
different sections on kidney failures and reasons, kidney complications in
children apart from books written by Dr Pandya.
Dr Pandya said, "A
patient with kidney complications from Dar-es-Salaam approached me. After
medical check-up, it came to my knowledge that the kidney problems arose
because of mismanagement in medicine and patient's improper dietary
habits."
He further said,
"When I asked the patient why he did not take the necessary precautions to
avoid complications, he replied that he did not understand English and online
guidance in Gujarati - the language they knew - was unavailable. This was the reason behind designing a website
in Gujarati and Hindi," said Dr Pandya.
He believes
availability of information in Gujarati and Hindi language will allow people
from rural areas to access information about the organ and diseases related to
it.
"Creating
awareness is important as the number of kidney failure cases and dialysis
centres are increasing," he said, emphasizing that it is better to prevent
expensive treatment like dialysis and kidney transplant. Dr Pandya further said that regular kidney
check-ups are a must to keep a tab on one's health.
He also stressed that
regular exercise and daily physical activity will maintain blood pressure and
blood sugar as it reduces risk of diabetes and hypertension and thus risk of
chronic kidney disease. Also, eating fresh fruits and vegetables and less consumption
of refined food, sugar, fat and meat in diet will help in keeping a control on
the disease.
Reduced consumption of
salt after a person turns 40 will help in preventing high blood pressure and
kidney stones, he added.
Source: www.dnaindia.com
15.06.2012
We
forget what we want to remember, and we remember what we want to forget
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