Dr. Rishi Kumar Kafle
A
person has two kidneys. Most people are born with two kidneys but some are born
with a single kidney. But if a single kidney remains strong and healthy, it can
sustain a whole life. Our lifestyle sometimes causes damage to our kidneys.
Even if one leads a healthy lifestyle, he/she can suffer from kidney diseases.
High blood pressure, diabetes and pain-relieving medicines have a visible
effect on the kidneys.
But the
biggest problem is many people do not know many things about their kidneys.
Because of this, many kidney patients visit hospitals when their kidney becomes
untreatable. Lately, the number of kidney patients has increased.
Various
reasons can be attributed to such a sharp increase. The first reason is that
dialysis facilities are provided free of cost in the country. Lately, the
technology of testing has reached every village. As a result, more patients are
seen due to early diagnosis. Many of them are found suffering from kidney
ailments accidentally while getting tested for other diseases. On the other
hand, an unhealthy lifestyle is also a factor. Our bad eating habits lack
physical activities such as walking, and working and failure to drink enough
water often lead to kidney diseases.
Asymptomatic Diseases
If you
do not sleep well during the night it will harm the body. Similarly, we often
crave to eat more. However, we often fail to eat our meals on time and sleep at
bedtime, We like to eat more and not eat on time, do not sleep at bedtime and
fail to consume enough water. In cities and towns, people visit restaurants
where they eat fast and junk foods which causes many problems in due time. It
is generally believed that if a person makes a habit of eating foods that are
available at fast-food joints, she/he is likely to suffer from various diseases.
Our lifestyle has deteriorated due to a lack of discipline in leading our life
and failure to maintain healthy eating behaviour.
We do
not walk for long hours as our grandparents had done in the past. Though they
had no choice but to walk, it has helped them healthily lead lives. Moving on
cars and motorcycles has become a way of life for many city and town dwellers
and they appear to have forgotten to walk. Secondly, in a country like ours
which has so many reservoirs and an abundance of water, many residents have
still been struggling to get enough drinking water as they are not available
for all of them.
We have
forgotten about drinking water and stopped exercising regularly. Even if they
do not walk daily due to an unhealthy environment and poor road conditions,
they should at least participate in Yoga. It would have been better to do Yoga
exercises for an hour in the morning. Baba Ram Dev did miracles by spreading
Yoga and Pranayama. So Yoga and Pranayama are good for your health. However,
instead of engaging ourselves in Baba Ram Dev introduced Pranayam Yoga, we
prefer to go to Patanjali-run stores for buying flour, toothpaste, soap and
other items. We do not know how to adopt a healthy and simple lifestyle and
follow a diet properly.
Above
all people feel relaxed and safe if they have no symptoms, which often invites
big problems for them. You have to adopt a healthy lifestyle while undergoing
health checkups at regular intervals.
Vulnerable Groups
Out of
a population of about 30 million, three million people have kidney problems,
300,000 are not aware of the early damage, and 30,000 have badly damaged
kidneys. Every year, 3,000 people will die if they do not get dialysis and
kidney transplantation. The disease, of any type, does not spare a person no
matter which age group he belongs to or whether he/she is rich, poor or from a
village or city. From school-going children to people of all age groups, they
have to undergo urine tests once every year.
Many
Nepali patients suffering from kidney failure are lucky these days as they can
get dialysis services in their cities. But others have to visit other cities to
receive dialysis and treatment.
According
to a study conducted at the National Kidney Centre, 60 per cent of dialysis
recipients are from the tribal and poor or lower-middle-class groups. It is the
lower middle-class people who found themselves in trouble now as kidney-related
treatment and medicines are pricey. The upper middle class do not have a
problem, let alone the people with high incomes.
The
poor people can feel relieved today as the Government of Nepal has provided
free dialysis services. Two decades ago, due to a lack of money, there was a
situation of losing relatives due to the availability of dialysis services. At
that time there were a lot of people who could not save family members, but
today that is not the case. However, the problem now is the number of patients
is increasing with each passing day.
The
limited number of dialysis machines has to provide dialysis facilities to unlimited
patients. The government started providing dialysis facilities, but we
encountered providing dialysis services due to constraints in getting
transportation, medicines, and hospitalisation. For patients, these services
are not affordable in long run.
Ways To Remain Healthy
To keep
your kidney healthy, start the day with a glass of water to keep your body
healthy. Drink two to three litres of water a day so that you can urinate two
to three litres of urine. How much water you drink and how much urine you
urinate are important. The other thing is how many steps you walk. Walk 10,000
steps a day or involve in regular physical exercise. Pay attention to what
you're eating. Think about whether food that you are eating is healthy or not.
Don't eat things that contain sugar and spices. Smoking or drinking alcohol is
not good for your health. Smoking and alcohol make a lot of people seriously
sick. These people want to stop these habits only when it becomes too late.
Take care of yourself thoughtfully before it is late. Handle your health with
utmost care.
It
doesn't take long to go from a healthy to unhealthy life if you care less about
your health. If you do not want to be sick you should not use cigarettes,
tobacco, or alcohol. Meanwhile, painkillers give a kick to the kidneys, so be
careful. Keep blood pressure and diabetes at the appropriate level. If you
drink plenty of water, exercise, do not smoke, do not use tobacco, eat healthy
food, sleep on time, wake up early, and keep blood pressure and diabetes under
control, your kidneys will remain healthy as it was.
You
also need to undergo urine and creatinine in the blood checkup once a year. If
there is no increase in creatinine in the blood, then it shows that the kidneys
are not damaged. Urine tests will show kidney disease very early.
A
health check-up once a year will infuse confidence in you to live and work in
the normal way. If you feel something amiss, then timely treatment saves you
from suffering from kidney failure. Everybody should take care of their kidneys.
If kidneys are healthy then Nepal will be healthy too.
(Senior Kidney Specialist Dr. Kafle is Executive Director, The
National Kidney Centre)