Unhealthy Diet Leading Cause Of Kidneys Failure In Pakistan: Experts

Peshawar: Unaware of being a victim of chronic kidney disease (CKD) for the last three years, 45-year-old Alam Khan was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) by his brothers after complaining about severe pain in his right kidney.

On the advice of doctors, hospital personnel immediately placed him on a stretcher and rushed him to the CT scan and ultrasound laboratories for radiology tests.

“My brother had been complaining about pain in the right kidney for the last three years but it turned severe the other day, forcing us to immediately shift him to the LRH,” said Sajid Khan, the elder brother of the patient.

Later, the doctors diagnosed him with CKD due to the blockage of his ureters by the renal stones and advised surgery. The stones have badly damaged the patient’s urinary bladder as well as his kidneys.

Govt Hospital Pabbi, Nowshera Head of Nephrology Ward Dr Sirzamin Khan said that CKD, which is typically caused by renal stones, can be fatal if not treated promptly.

Dr Khan said that an estimated 10 percent of the world’s population has some form of kidney damage and about 850 million people are estimated to have kidney diseases, including CKD and AKI (acute kidney disease), due to an unhealthy lifestyle.

“CKD kills about 2.4 million people per year in the world and is the sixth fastest growing cause of death,” he said.

While terming AKI an important driver of CKD, he said that AKI affected over 13 million people worldwide, and about 85 percent of the cases are found in low and middle income countries. He added that around 1.7 million people are estimated to die annually because of AKI.

Dr Khan stated CKD is predicted to increase by 17 percent over the next decade, and has been recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organisations as a global public health issue.

Pakistan is ranked eighth in the list of countries with a high rate of kidney diseases, mostly CKD, and about 17 million people were suffering from such ailments in the country.

“The major causes of CKD and AKI are late diagnosis, kidney stones, diabetes, and high blood pressure,” adding that “consuming junk and low-quality food, self-medication or excessive use of medicine, low water intake, and obesity were other common reasons for such diseases.”

The health expert further said many patients do not consider CKD, AKI and kidney stones as serious ailments, and mostly used homoeopathy and self-medication for their treatment; thus damaging their vital life-saving organ that often leads to kidney failure and ultimately death.

“The treatment of kidney failure is very expensive, and such patients would either go for haemodialysis or a kidney transplant, while dialysis was a short-term cure,” said Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD) Hayatabad, Peshawar Dr Riaz Hussain.

Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital(NSKH) Medical Superintendent Dr Mumtaz Khan told that the NSKH Swat is a great blessing for poor parents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, especially in the Malakand division. Except for kidney transplantation, NSKHs are equipped with all medical, diagnostic and surgical services for the patients around the clock.

Dr Mumtaz informed that besides free dialysis, nephrology and urology operations, all the latest treatment procedures, including percutaneous lithotripsy (PCNL), are being used to remove large kidney stones at NSKH. Most of the patients are coming from the merged tribal districts of Bajaur and Mohmand, Malakand division, including Swat, Shangla, Buner, Kohistan, Battagram, Dir, Chitral, besides Battagram, Hazara, and Mardan.

The OPD examined an average of 500 patients per day, which “means that 15,000 patients per month and around 180,000 per year”: Dr Mumtaz.

“The number of dialysis machines has been increased from 14 to 30 after an increase in patients in recent years,” Dr Mumtaz said. Prior to NSKH, he added that the patients of eight districts in Malakand division were visiting Peshawar and Islamabad for kidney treatment and dialysis, spending their hard-earned money on CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, operations, hotel stays, transport fares, etc.

The experts underlined the need for mass awareness regarding the adoption of healthy lifestyles, avoiding junk foods and controlling blood pressure which is inevitable for the eradication of kidney diseases.

They recommended aggressive screening, controlling hypertension and diabetes, as well as adopting healthy lifestyles such as drinking clean water, exercising, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, and raising public awareness about CKD and AKI. APP