What happens when the garbage takes the day off? You get irritable with the pile up of trash. The same can be said for your kidneys. Responsible for waste disposal and flushing out excess water, a lot depends on the smooth functioning of our kidneys. Chronic Kidney Disease is a serious problem - when your kidneys slow down the process of disposing waste and toxins build up in your body.

Dr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Senior Consultant on Nephrology from Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute breaks the sad truth about this health problem. Unfortunately, India does not have any readily available analysis on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in the country. But he gives us an insight on this growing problem: “The exact prevalence of chronic kidney disease in India is not known as there was no registry for the same. However, as per some studies done in India, the prevalence of CKD has been found to be 800 per million population and the prevalence of ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) is 150-200 per million population.”

We all know the sorry state of organ transplant in India, and Dr.Rajesh Aggarwal brings it into focus. “On an average, about 1.5 lakhs new cases of ESRD occurs every year in India and only about 3500 are able to get kidney transplants. Approximately 10% of the total ESRD patients undergo Hemodialysis and it has been observed that such patients have a better survival rate.”

If you fall under these brackets then you may be at a greater risk of CKD:

• “Patients suffering from uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus
• Patients with family history of disease like Polycystic Kidney Disease, Hereditary
• Nephritis
• Hypertensive patients
• Patients with urinary complaints like difficulty in passing urine, swelling of face and feet, blood in urine, stones in urine, protein in urine, frequent urination
• People having stones in kidney and ureter
• People who have a regular intake of painkillers”

But the Nephrologist also gives you ways to prevent CKD:

• “Proper control of Diabetes Mellitus and its complications
• Early detection of High Blood Pressure and taking proper measures to control it
• In case of Hypertension, proper investigations to be carried out to find out the cause
• Regular urine examination
• Avoiding delay in treatment of stone disease
• Avoiding the intake of painkillers without doctor’s advice
• Taking proper precautionary measures in case of a family history of kidney disease”

Another pointer: Go easy with liquids; do not gulp down large sips as it only adds pressure to your kidney. You don’t want to overload the system!

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