Salt, sugar & red meat reduction helps to protect kidneys
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KARACHI: People should protect their kidneys by quitting smoking, reducing use of salt, sugar and red meat.
High blood pressure and diabetes are the major causes of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Acute Kidney Injuries (AKI) can be treated if it is diagnosed timely. Good control of diabetes and blood pressure may help one to prevent kidney disease or slow it down.
Kidneys are essential for life as they are important in the chemical breakdown of urine; they react to changes in the body's water level throughout the day.
Any healthy family member can donate his or her kidney but there is a restriction for unmarried young ladies to donate.
Dr Syed Mansoor Ahmed Shah, Consultant Nephrology and General Medicine at the South City Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital, stated this while delivering a lecture on `Kidney Diseases, Causes, and Basic Information' held at Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, on Friday.
PCMD and Virtual Education Project Pakistan (VEPP) had jointly organised this 38th public awareness seminar.
Dr Shah said that CKD means that one's kidneys are not working as well as they once did. Various conditions can cause CKD, he said and added that severity can vary but most cases are mild or moderate, occur in older people, do not cause symptoms and do not progress to kidney failure.
Acute renal failure or acute kidney injury means that the function of the kidneys is rapidly affected over hours or days, he maintained.
He pointed out that healthy life style is essential for the protection of kidneys. He added that the citizens can keep their kidneys healthy by eating healthier foods, limiting salt, sugar and fat in your diet, setting aside time to relax, having regular exercise, limiting red meat, avoiding soda, giving up processed foods and quitting smoking, he said.
Talking about the causes of chronic kidney diseases, he said that diabetes and high blood pressure are the major causes of CKD but other causes included stone disease, ageing kidneys, diseases of the glomerulonephritis, renal artery stenosis (narrowing), haemolytic uraemic syndrome, polycystic kidney disease, blockages to the flow of urine, drug-induced and toxin-induced kidney damage and repeated kidney infections.
He informed the participants that usually kidney disease started slowly and silently and progressed over a number of years.
Not everyone progresses from stage one to stage five, said, adding that the stage five is also known as End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Serum urea and creatinine are markers of kidney dysfunction, but the best test is eGFR which is calculated from your age, sex and blood creatinine level, he said.
There are various treatments for patients who reach end stage of renal disease include hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and kidney transplant, he maintained.
Talking about kidneys' transplant, he said that the success rate for a kidney transplant from a living donor is 90-95 per cent after one year and the transplanted kidney lasts 15 to 20 years on average.
Any healthy family member can donate his or her kidney, he said, adding that there is a restriction for unmarried young ladies to donate their kidneys as they may face severe health problem in their expected marital life. (APP)
