10 percent of Hyderabadis suffer kidney trouble

Hyderabad: One out of 10 persons in Hyderabad suffers from kidney ailments. This is because one out of every Hyderabadis has diabetes, according to clinical evaluations carried out by experts.

The increasing incidence of diabetes is one of the major reasons for the rising number of kidney ailments, and nephrologists say not many doctors paid attention to this aspect in the beginning.

Dr Manisha Sahay, head of the department of nephrology at Osmania General Hospital, said diabetes affects all organs but the damage to the kidney is caused by the sugars in the blood sticking to the structures of the organ.

“When this happens there is a leak of protein in the urine. This is the early stage but is never detected in time. We have patients checking their blood sugar levels but their urine tests are not carried out though they do not cost much,” Dr Sahay said.

The leaking of protein is an indication that the kidney functioning has been compromised. When the patient comes in early, treatment can help to stop the progress. “Unfortunately, 99 per cent of the patients come too late,” Dr Manisha Sahay said.

Diabetics are recommended to get their urine and creatinine levels in the blood tested to check on their kidney functioning.
Dr K.S. Nayak, senior nephrologist explained, “We are seeing diabetes in younger population and that is why renal failure is very high. The longer the patient is diabetic the higher is the burden on the kidney. It is now being seen that we require a proper management of diabetes to reduce the burden of kidney diseases.”

Dr Nayak said there was a need to reduce the intake of minerals like phosphorus as poor functioning of the kidneys causes a phosphorus build-up.

This reduces the amount of calcium and leads to weakening of the bones. Phosphorus is found in dairy products, processed meats, bread, beer, colas and chocolates.

Intake of protein must also be reduced as filtering of protein is difficult and it leads to unhealthy build-up in the urine called proteinuria.

The incidence of chronic kidney disease in India is 17 per cent which has been evaluated from the recent study carried out in 13 medical centres in India in partnership with Harvard Medical School. The study found that one third of the people studied were in the advanced stage of kidney diseases.