Staff Reporter
At least one in 13 South African adults has chronic kidney disease (CKD) and about 250 people around the world die from complications related to kidney disease every day, a health expert has said.
According to the head of the Nephrology Clinical Unit in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of the Free State (UFS), Dr Feziwe Busiswa Bisiwe, kidney disease-associated mortality is on the rise around the world and people of African descent have a higher risk of developing kidney disease due to genetic predisposition and other factors.
“Some forms of kidney disease are inherited and tend to run in families,” she said in a statement issued by the UFS to mark World Kidney Day, celebrated on March 10 every year.
Bisiwe said the number of people dying from CKD is rising because the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity is increasing.
She said Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa also have an increased disease burden associated with infections such as HIV, TB and malaria, which also increase the risk of developing kidney disease.
“Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, kidney stones, recurrent bladder infections, HIV infection, being over the age of 50, smoking, excess consumption of alcohol and medications that harm the kidneys are the commonest known risk factors for developing kidney disease,” Bisiwe explained.
All adults, she said, are at risk of getting CKD and need to be screened at least once a year.
The screening can be done at primary health-care centres by simply measuring the blood pressure, doing a urine test and a single blood test where needed.
All adults are advised to have annual medical check-ups for early diagnosis of diseases leading to CKD, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and HIV infection.
Bisiwe said there is limited awareness about kidney disease around the world, and that is why the initiative of this campaign is to “bridge the knowledge gap”.
Early forms of CKD may be treated with lifestyle and dietary adjustments that slow down the progression of kidney disease.
“Kidney transplant is the most cost-effective way to treat kidney failure – however, there is limited access to this treatment due to a shortage of donated organs,” she said.
“Dialysis treatment is another blood-purifying method that performs some of the functions of the kidney to keep the patient alive.
“Dialysis is expensive and is not widely available in the South African state-funded health-care system, hence more emphasis is placed on prevention, early detection and delaying the progression of kidney disease.”
World Kidney Day is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of kidneys and how to take care of them through healthy living.