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Andile Tshuma on Health

Kidney diseases are silent killers, which will largely affect the quality of life. There are however several easy ways to reduce the risk of developing kidney disease.

As we commemorated World Kidney Day during the week, it is a goo/d time to look back and applaud the Government on making the service free at public hospitals, although a lot still needs to be done in provision of health services

In August last year, Government  started offering free dialysis services at public hospitals, bringing relief to kidney patients.

World Kidney Day’s objective is to raise awareness globally of the importance of kidney health and to increase screening for chronic kidney disease. The day is marked every second Thursday in March annually.

Renal services are available free of charge at hospitals such as Mpilo Central and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care on Thursday in a statement urged Zimbabweans to take their real health seriously and adopt healthier lifestyles that are friendlier to kidneys.

“As we celebrate World Kidney Day 2019, don’t forget to get your kidney function checked by a doctor if you have one or more of these high risk factors; diabetes, hypertension and obesity,” read a statement from the health ministry on its official twitter handle.

“Keep fit and active,  keep regular control of your blood sugar level, monitor your blood pressure, eat healthy and keep your weight in check, maintain a healthy fluid intake, and do not smoke.”

When kidneys are not checked in time and one develops kidney disease, it can develop to chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive loss in kidney function over a period of months or years. Each of your kidneys has about a million tiny filters, called nephrons. If nephrons are damaged, they stop working. For a while, healthy nephrons can take on the extra work. But if the damage continues, more and more nephrons shut down. After a certain point, the nephrons that are left cannot filter your blood well enough to keep you healthy.

When kidney function falls below a certain point, it is called kidney failure. Kidney failure affects your whole body, and can make you feel very ill. Untreated kidney failure can be life-threatening.

Keeping fit helps to reduce your blood pressure and therefore reduces the risk of CKD.

The concept “on the move for kidney health” is a worldwide collective march involving the public, celebrities and professionals moving across a public area by walking, running and cycling. Why not join them – by whatever means you prefer.  About half of people who have diabetes develop kidney damage, so it is important for people with diabetes to have regular tests to check their kidney functions.

Kidney damage from diabetes can be reduced or prevented if detected early. It is important to keep control of blood sugar levels with the help of doctors or pharmacists, who are always happy to help.

Although many people may be aware that high blood pressure can lead to a stroke or heart attack, few know that it is also the most common cause of kidney damage.

The normal blood pressure level is 120/80. Between this level and 139/89, you are considered prehypertensive and should adopt lifestyle and dietary changes. At 140/90 and above, you should discuss the risks with your doctor and monitor your blood pressure level regularly. 

High blood pressure is especially likely to cause kidney damage when associated with other factors like diabetes, high cholesterol and cardio- vascular diseases.

This can help prevent diabetes, heart disease and other conditions associated with CKD.

High blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes are the most common causes of kidney disease. The high blood pressure causes just over a quarter of all cases of kidney failure. Diabetes has been established as the cause of around one-third of all cases and is the commonest cause of ESRD in most developed countries.

Other less common conditions include inflammation (glomerulonephritis) or infections (pyelonephritis). Sometimes CKD is inherited (such as polycystic disease) or the result of longstanding blockage to the urinary system (such as enlarged prostate or kidney stones).

Some drugs can cause CKD, especially some pain-killing drugs (analgesics) if taken over a long time. Often doctors cannot determine what caused the problem.

A person can lose up to 90% of their kidney functions 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.

There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, although treatment can slow or halt the progression of the disease and can prevent other serious conditions developing.

 

The main treatments are a proper diet and medications, and for those who reach ESRD, long term dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation. 

In the early stages of kidney disease, a proper diet and medications may help to maintain the critical balances in the body that your kidneys would normally control. 

However, when you have kidney failure, wastes and fluids accumulate in your body and you need dialysis treatments to remove these wastes and excess fluid from your blood.  Dialysis can be done either by machine (hemodialysis) or by using fluid in your abdomen (peritoneal dialysis). In suitable patients a kidney transplant combined with medications and a healthy diet can restore normal kidney function.

Dialysis and kidney transplantation are known as renal replacement therapies (RRT) because they attempt to “replace” the normal functioning of the kidneys and are discussed in more detail below.

Kidney transplantation is considered the best treatment for many people with severe CKD because quality of life and survival are often better than in people who use dialysis. However, there is a shortage of organs available for donation. 

Many people who are candidates for kidney transplantation are put on a transplant waiting list and require dialysis until an organ is available.

A kidney can come from a living relative, a living unrelated person, or from a person who has died (deceased or cadaver donor); only one kidney is required to survive. To stay safe, take care of your health and get your kidneys checked regularly. If you already have kidney problems, then  take extra care of them and your health and visit a health care facility regularly. – @andile_tshuma