Hyderabad, March 15th, 2024: To commemorate World Kidney Day, an awareness campaign was hosted by Virinchi Hospital, today. It’s a global awareness campaign held annually on the second Thursday of March with a primary goal to raise awareness about the importance of our kidneys and to reduce the impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.

Kidney diseases affect millions of people globally, leading to complications such as kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, and even death if left untreated. Risk factors for kidney disease include uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and a family history of kidney problems, renal stones and congenital kidney problems. Early detection and management are crucial in preventing kidney disease progression and improving outcomes for affected individuals.

Speaking on the occasion Dr K. S. Nayak, Head Dept. of Nephrology & Renal Transplantation, Virinchi Hospital, said, according to the latest study conducted in 2020 in India, Diabetes emerged as the leading cause of chronic kidney disease, followed by various other diseases. The average age of individuals affected was 50 years, with approximately 67% being male. Interestingly, the study found that twice as many affected patients resided in rural areas compared to urban areas. The mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among the patients was 40 ml/min/1.73 m² in the study. This is one of the Centres of Excellence for treating Kidney disease in the country, in fact Harvard Business Review came all the way from US to study our practices and published about us. Our work is acclaimed across the globe for home dialysis. We did the first swap kidney transplant in Hyderabad. Our team did the first simultaneous heart and kidney transplant in the country.

When coming to Telangana, Diabetes stands out as the primary cause of chronic kidney disease, HTN (Hypertension) stands second, followed closely by CKDu (Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin), particularly prevalent among the younger generation. This trend highlights the significant impact of diabetes on kidney health, as well as the emerging concern surrounding CKDu, whose origins remain unclear but pose a serious health risk, especially among younger individuals, Dr Nayak added.

The typical symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) can vary depending on the stage of the disease, but some common signs and symptoms include weakness and easy fatigue, swelling in legs and hands, shortness of breath, persistent itching, foamy or bubbly urine, increased need to urinate, particularly at night, difficulty concentrating, decreased appetite, muscle cramps and changes in urine color. Alarming signs that may indicate a more advanced stage of CKD include an increase in the severity of the above-mentioned signs. In addition, patients can develop uncontrollable high blood pressure, sleep difficulties, decreased urine output, difficulty breathing, convulsions and sometimes sudden cardiac arrest, says Dr Naveen Kumar Mattewada, Sr. Consultant Nephrologist & Transplant Physician, Specialist interventional Nephrology, Virinchi Hospital.

The precautions to prevent kidney diseases include proper control of blood sugar; and blood pressure control, maintaining a healthy weight, good hydration, eating a balanced healthy diet including leafy vegetables and fruits, limiting alcohol consumption and quitting smoking, regular physical activity, avoiding overuse of over-the-counter pain medications and regular health check-ups, especially at-risk patients, says Dr. Naveen Kumar Medi, Sr. Consultant-Nephrologist, Transplant Physician, Specialist’ ICU, Nephrology, Virinchi Hospitals

Treatment for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) mainly focuses on managing the symptoms, slowing the progression, and preventing complications of the disease which includes drugs, sugar and BP control, anemia management, and Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT). The best form of RRT is kidney transplantation. The various types of dialysis include Hemodialysis and Peritoneal dialysis and the initiation of specific dialysis depends on the patient’s requirements. In recent years, several newer modalities for ESKD have been available which includes Home hemodialysis, Nocturnal dialysis, Short daily hemodialysis, variable and portable dialysis devices, bio-artificial kidneys, online hemodiafiltration, adds Dr K. S. Nayak.

Our dedication to innovation is underlined by our pioneering efforts in swap transplantation, marking us as leaders in facilitating interstate and inter-hospital organ exchanges. Our ground-breaking work was triggered by our faculty initiating the first deceased donor transplantation in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh (third in India) in 1995, cementing our status as trailblazers in transplant medicine, says Dr Sai Ravi Shankar, President, of Virinchi Hospital.

Our commitment to research and innovation has led to the development of ground-breaking treatment modalities such as Allo-dialysis, whereby a patient’s attendant can act as a dialysis partner. This reduces the burden on healthcare resources while providing patient-centered care, says Mr Satyanarayana Vedula, Vice Chairman, Virinchi Hospitals. Kidney problem arises mainly due to hypertension, diabetes, and smoking, and the need to take special care to control these health problems.