By Abid Usman
ISLAMABAD: Each year World Kidney Day is aimed to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.
The World Kidney Day theme of this year is “Living Well with Kidney Disease†. This has been done to both increase education and awareness about effective symptom management and patient empowerment, with the ultimate goal of encouraging life participation. According to experts, Pakistan ranks eighth in the list of countries with a high rate of kidney diseases, with 17 million people suffering from such diseases. According to them, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is rapidly growing in Pakistan due to late diagnosis, kidney stone disease, and an increasing number of patients suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dr. Syed Farhat Abbas, Consultant Nephrologist at Shifa International Hospital (SIH) said that kidney patients should keep their blood pressure on the lower side, and manage blood sugar levels, also they should reduce salt intake, and moderate protein consumption. A person at high risk for kidney disease should consult his health care provider to protect kidney health.
Dr. Syed Nayer Mahmud, Consultant Nephrologist at SIH said that to protect kidney health, people should know their risks. If one has diabetes or high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney failure, they are at higher risk of kidney problems. Also getting tested can help timely diagnosis because people with early-stage kidney disease usually have no symptoms.
Dr. Danyal Hassan, Consultant Nephrologist at SIH said that kidneys serve a vital role by filtering waste and excess fluid from the blood and maintaining a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals. Stone disease is a common cause of chronic kidney disease and drinking 2-3 liters of boiled or filtered water is the key to prevent stone formation. Dr. Kiran Khurshid & Dr. Momena Manzoor, Consultant Nephrologists at SIH also highlighted that those who are suffering from end-stage kidney disease, please be careful about the risk of acquiring hepatitis and other blood-borne infections from dialysis machines; choose dialysis unit where proper sanitization is done.
