10 things your nephrologist (kidney specialist) wants you to know

Dr Sahu shares interesting facts and information about kidneys.

By: Bhakti Paun Sharma | | Updated: March 10, 2016 9:46 am

10^th March is World Kidney Day

Kidneys are important organs that help remove waste from the body. Hence, it is important that you work towards maintaining the health of your kidneys. Maintain a healthy lifestyle to keep kidney diseases at bay. On World Kidney Day, we contacted Dr Krishna M Sahu, Director, Nephrology &Kidney Transplant, Nayati Multi Super Specialty Hospital, Mathura to learn interesting and useful things about kidneys and how to keep it healthy. So here are 10 things your nephrologist wants you to know:

1. We all have two kidneys; still we can lead a completely normal life even if just one of our kidneys functions well. You can live a normal life with just one kidney too. God probably has given us an extra kidney so that we can donate it and save a life. Just think about it.

2. Each kidney has approximately 1 million nephrons (tiny working units). Kidney disease manifests only after half the nephrons are lost.

3. Kidneys are our housekeepers. They keep our system clean by filtering out impurities from blood and getting rid of the same through urine. Other than doing the cleaning job, kidneys also help regulate our water, salt and acid-base balance; keep our bones healthy and maintain our haemoglobin level.

4. We have a huge burden of kidney disease in India. Studies have shown that approximately 2-3% of Indian population is likely to have chronic kidney disease stage 3 and above. (Stage 5 is the highest when patients need dialysis or kidney transplant).

5. Diabetes and high blood pressure together are responsible for about 70% of kidney failure cases. Thus, prevention of diabetes and high blood pressure will go a long way in decreasing the burden of kidney patients in the community. A healthy diet, regular exercise, and appropriate medicines — these help in controlling diabetes, high blood pressure as well as kidney problem.

6. Kidneys do not take well to certain drugs, like painkillers. Prolonged use of simple paracetamol or even a single use of painkiller may cause kidney failure. Recent research has shown that even simple antacid may harm kidneys. Thus, if you are a kidney patient you MUST ask your nephrologist before taking any new medicine.

7. Alcohol, tobacco in any form, and soft drinks that contain phosphoric acid are all harmful for kidneys. You need to avoid all of them to keep your kidneys healthy.

8. Obesity, apart from causing diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also causes kidney disease. You may control your weight by sticking to a healthy diet and regular exercise.

9. Haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplant — these are the available treatments modalities for end-stage kidney failure. Out of these, kidney transplant offers the best quality of life as well as the longest duration of life. Every year approximately two lakh patients develop end stage kidney failure and need dialysis or transplant.

10. Every year, approximately two lakh patients develop end stage kidney failure and need dialysis or transplant. Unfortunately, however, only about 4000 of them receive a kidney transplant because of the shortage of donor kidneys. As discussed above, if we pledge to donate one of our kidneys, we may be able to save the life of at least two lakh people a year!

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Published : March 9, 2016 6:19 pm | Updated:March 10, 2016 9:46 am

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