‘Maintaining sugar, blood pressure, and healthy lifestyle can prevent CKD’, says Dr Navjit Sidhu
“By adopting good lifestyle and by meticulously controlling blood sugar and blood pressure, people can keep their kidneys healthy and can prevent kidney disease”, said Dr Navjit Singh Sidhu, Associate Director – Nephrology and Kidney Transplant, Paras Hospital, while spreading awareness about ‘How to maintain healthy kidneys’ on the occasion of World Kidney Day, which is celebrated globally on March 10.
Dr Sidhu, who had completed his MD Medicine and DM Nephrology from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, further said that one should do regular exercise, maintain an ideal body weight and consume a healthy fluid intake to prevent getting infected from chronic kidney disease (CKD), which has become a global health concern.
“Also, smoking and alcohol consumption should be avoided. One should avoid self-medication and prolonged use of pain killer drugs. Extremes of exercise in hot conditions and consumption of muscle bulk enhancing products should also be avoided”, he said.
“About 11 to 13 percent of the world population is suffering from CKD, of which about three fourth have early or mild disease while the remaining have relatively advanced disease. In India about 150,000 to 200,000 new cases of CKD are detected every year and this number is increasing by the day”, said Dr Sidhu, while explaining the grim situation of the disease in India.
‘Diabetes, high BP major causes CKD’
The doctor further said, “The CKD infection is most common among the patients who are suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. Other common causes of CKD include glomerulonephritis, some hereditary and congenital diseases, kidney stones, recurrent urinary tract infections and increased intake of pain killer drugs.”
‘Early symptoms must not be ignored’
Early symptoms of CKD include a feeling of less energy and tiredness, puffiness around eyes, swelling of feet and ankles and a feeling to urinate more often at night. Later one may have nausea, vomiting, pallor, decreased urine output and breathlessness.
“Any person suffering from these symptoms should be evaluated by a doctor and if kidney disease is confirmed a nephrologist should be consulted so that proper treatment can be taken early. Patients of diabetes and hypertension, all healthy individuals with a history of kidney disease in the family and all elderly above the age of 65 years should be regularly screened for the presence of kidney disease and timely action taken if required”, said Dr Sidhu.
