Be wary of kidney diseases
The kidneys remove waste, toxins and excess fluid from the blood. They also help to regulate body water and secrete important hormones in the blood to control blood pressure, make red blood cells and build strong bones.
Who is at high risk?
- Symptoms of early fatigability, unexplained anaemia (deficiency of Hb)
- Loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting
- Swelling over feet
- Long standing hypertension
How to diagnose?
- Simple urine examination R/M
- Serum creatinine
- Ultrasound of Kidneys
Kidney disease is one of most prevalent undiagnosed disease. Approximately, 500 million adults world wide are suffering from kidney diseases. The kidney diseases are basically two types:
- Acute kidney injury
- Chronic kidney disease (In advance stage known as end stage renal disease and irreversible)
About 1.5 lakh new cases of end stage kidney disease are detected in India every year out of which only 20 per cent undergo treatment due to cost constraints.
Acute Kidney injury is a temporary kidney failure. The common causes are infections, diarrhoea with dehydration, obstructive uropathy, and drug reaction mainly after ingestion of indigenous medicines as well as pain killers. Elderly population and those having compromised kidney functions are more prone to develop the temporary kidney shut down. Very few patients need temporary dialysis during recovery phase.
Common causes
- Diabetes mellitus
- Hypertension
- Chronic glomerulonephritis
- Chronic interstitial disease
- Hereditary causes
To slow down the progress of chronic kidney disease to advance stage following measures are important.
- Optimal control of blood sugar by medicine/exercise/ diet control if diabetic
- Optimal control of hypertension and obesity
- Avoid pain killers
Regular follow up with your physician if you are suffering from any chronic disease like hypertension, diabetes, auto immune disease, chronic arthritis etc.
Once chronic kidney failure progressed to advance stage the treatment options along with medicines is dialysis or transplant.
Kidney transplant involves an operation in which a healthy kidney from another person is placed in the patient’s body and dialysis is a process by which the waste products and excess fluids are removed from the patient’s body. Under the dialysis category, patients can either opt for peritoneal dialysis (PD) or haemodialysis (HD) to perform the life sustaining role of their kidneys which no longer function.
Kidney Transplant
It’s a treatment of choice for end stage renal disease especially young patients if suitable.
In this a donated kidney needs to be good match for the patient’s body. The more alike the donated kidney is the less likely the patient’s immune system is to reject it. A kidney that is perceived too foreign by the body will be attacked by the immune system to protect the body. To overcome this problem, drugs are administered to the patient to suppress the immune system so that it does not reject the transplanted kidney.
Dialysis
In HD the patient’s blood is sent through a filter outside the body to remove waste products and clean blood is returned to the body after the filtering process is complete. Most dialysis patients are treated with HD at a hospital or clinic. Patients typically receive treatment three times a week for three to five hours a session.
Peritoneal Dialysis
It is also known as home dialysis. The PD utilises peritoneal membrane within the body as the filter device. Dialysis solution is stored in the patient’s abdominal cavity to capture waste products from the blood.
The peritoneal membrane lines the inside of the abdomen. To gain access into the abdominal cavity, a catheter is surgically inserted through its wall. Dialysis solution is infused into the peritoneal cavity and through the process of osmosis and diffusion, toxins and excess fluids move across the membrane into the solution, thereby cleaning the blood. After a predetermined dwell period, the solution is drained from the cavity through the catheter.
Dialysis treatment is done by patients themselves, in the comfort of their homes or offices. In fact, PD patients can still go to work and lead a relatively active lifestyle. They also enjoy fewer dietary restrictions compared to HD patients. Studies have shown that PD is associated with equal or better survival in many patients than conventional HD and that PD patients have high levels of satisfaction with their therapy. Peritoneal dialysis in the home offers more time for family and social activities and appears to be the treatment of choice for patients who are employed.
Kidney diseases should be suspected early, managed early, so that progression of the disease is slowed down. Therefore, there is a need of increased awareness among treating physician and community as a whole about kidney disease.
