About 4,5 million Poles suffer from chronic kidney disease, but over 90 percent. he does not know about it and he does not receive treatment. Most of them will probably die prematurely due to cardiovascular complications, nephrologists said on Friday at a press meeting in Warsaw.
Meanwhile, many of these deaths could have been avoided if chronic kidney disease had been detected sooner – at a stage where it could slow down significantly. An invaluable tool in its early diagnosis are simple and cheap tests, such as general urinalysis and blood creatinine measurement – emphasized prof. Jacek Manitius, president of the Polish Society of Nephrology.
According to him, every adult person, even if they feel healthy, should do it once a year. Therefore, the nephrologists present at the meeting called on primary care physicians to order these tests more often.
Chronic kidney disease is the most common complication of poorly treated diabetes or high blood pressure. It is more common than diabetes, but is completely unknown in society. The problem is, it doesn’t hurt. It usually develops over a dozen years without any symptoms, gradually leading to kidney damage and failure – said Prof. Ryszard Gellert, head of the Nephrology Clinic of the Medical Center of Postgraduate Education in Warsaw. Symptoms such as skin changes or vomiting appear very late, when uremic poisoning occurs.
The fact that it is detected too late and too rarely is proved by the fact that only 5 percent. people who suffer from it are undergoing renal replacement therapy (i.e. kidney transplantation or dialysis), and half of them hear the diagnosis of the disease when they already have kidney failure – emphasized prof. Gellert. Most patients die prematurely due to cardiovascular complications, because kidney disease increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases several times and the risk of dying from them at least three times.
That is why it is so important to regularly perform a general urine test and to check the level of creatinine (a product of muscle metabolism) in the blood. Adults should do this at least once a year, regardless of their health condition. This applies especially to people at risk, i.e. those whose closest relative (parent, sibling) has hypertension, diabetes or kidney disease. In turn, patients suffering from these diseases should perform them at least once every six months – emphasized Dr. Iwona Mazur, president of the National Association of Dialyzed People.
According to prof. Manitius, what should worry us is, for example, the presence of protein or sugar in the urine and a higher than normal level of creatinine. It is used to calculate the so-called glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is used to assess the stage of renal failure. According to the nephrologist, it is best for a doctor to evaluate the results of the tests.
Chronic kidney disease mainly affects the elderly. According to prof. Manitius, however, it is disturbing that the number of adolescents and young adults with obesity and hypertension is increasing. This is a simple way to increase the number of people with kidney disease and cardiovascular diseases – emphasized the specialist. Therefore, health education should start from kindergarten and continue at every stage of education.
Poles still do not see health as an investment. They prefer to invest in apparent signs of prosperity, such as a nice house, good looks, clothes, instead of checkups and a healthy lifestyle, the nephrologist said. Health education can change that.
Education of the society on the risk of kidney diseases, their prevention, early diagnosis and treatment is one of the goals of the National Association of Dialyzed People. Its members also work to ensure European standards of treatment for dialysis patients in Poland. They inform patients, among others about the possibilities of peritoneal dialysis (home dialysis), which gives more independence and is a very good solution for young and active people. It is the preferred method for children 1-5 years old. Currently, in Poland, it is still used by a small percentage of patients – approx. 5%. all dialysed.
The association is also trying to popularize the idea of organ donation. Family kidney transplants are still very rare in Poland. They constitute approx. 1,5 percent. of all transplantations from living donors, while, for example, in the USA this percentage reaches 55-60 percent. – said Dr. Mazur. She pointed out that people who decide to donate an organ often live longer than their peers, which is related to the fact that their health is better monitored. (PAP)