Contents
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) develops silently for a long time. At an early stage, unfavorable changes can still be reversed. Unfortunately, it is often not detected until a very advanced stage. Who is particularly at risk of Chronic Kidney Disease and how to avoid the disease?
Chronic Kidney Disease – what is it?
We always talk about Chronic Kidney Disease when there is damage to these organs, lasting more than six months. Regardless of the background, after some time the patient decreases the number of properly functioning nephrons, as well as kidney fibrosis.
In simple words: due to the disease, the kidneys are unable to cleanse the body of metabolic waste products. So these harmful “leftovers” spread throughout the body, affecting other organs. There is also water retention, respiratory disorders, and pulmonary edema. Nausea and vomiting may also appear. The patient’s condition is systematically deteriorating.
Chronic Kidney Disease is often a vicious circle. The disease may develop in connection with other chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular) and may result in emergencies in the circulatory system, such as heart attack, stroke or heart failure.
Chronic Kidney Disease – this is what a typical patient looks like
In the case of Kidney Disease, determining the risk group is relatively simple. The disease is closely related to other chronic diseases and develops in parallel. However, while diabetes or hypertension are quite easy to diagnose, CKD does not cause any symptoms for a long time. So the kidneys deteriorate silently.
If we try to define a patient with chronic kidney disease, we will probably have a 50-year-old, often overweight and unfortunately smoking cigarettes – says Prof. Andrzej M. Fal, president of the Polish Society of Public Health and member of the coalition for chronic kidney disease. – However, when it comes to diseases that can cause Chronic Kidney Disease and lead to chronic kidney failure, such important risk factors are certainly diabetic angiopathy, hypertension and rapidly developing atherosclerosis.
Symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic Kidney Disease has five stages. The first two are mild, and reversing the degeneration of organs is still possible. The problem, however, is that at this stage the vast majority of patients have no idea about the developing disease. In the first two stages, the damaged kidneys show virtually no symptoms. You may feel tired and your urine may foam. Another symptom may also be hypertension.
These are not specific symptoms that could cause the patient real anxiety, therefore, at this stage, he rarely seeks a diagnosis. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 people do not know about chronic kidney disease. So, unless the patient carries out any tests to detect the disease, the degradation takes place quietly for years. And if left untreated, Chronic Kidney Disease only worsens into its third, advanced stage. At this stage, it is too late for effective treatment. This is when the first characteristic symptoms appear, such as swelling or mild anemia.
How to take care of the kidneys? The most important rules
Most importantly, managing kidney disease involves making changes to your lifestyle. Important elements here are proper hydration of the body, maintaining a proper body weight, as well as limiting stimulants. A diet for healthy kidneys should be based primarily on vegetables and fruits, with a large reduction in the consumption of animal products.
Alcohol and tobacco smoke are also harmful to the kidneys, so these stimulants should be eliminated as soon as possible.
Bladder care is also important in the prevention of kidney disease – delaying the visit to the toilet for too long, despite the need to urinate, can be harmful.
Coalition for Chronic Kidney Disease
The number of people suffering from chronic kidney disease is steadily increasing, contrary to public awareness of the risk. Therefore, a coalition for Chronic Kidney Disease was established, which included eminent Polish specialists in the field of nephrology, family medicine, pharmacology and public health.
I believe that such coalitions are necessary – says prof. Andrzej M. Fal. – Their strength is that they bring together not only clinicians dealing with a specific disease, but also, and perhaps most importantly, public health specialists. Chronic diseases are the biggest health problem of all societies, especially more affluent countries (including the whole of Europe). Therefore, the participation of public health specialists in such bodies is extremely important, because they have knowledge that is different from that of clinicians. And it is not about different facts, but rather a different point of view. When a clinician looks at CKD or COPD, he sees the disease. The public health specialist, on the other hand, sees other aspects. He considers how it was created, what we should, as a society, do, what prophylaxis should be introduced to prevent the disease. He estimates how many people suffer from this disease, but also, as a consequence, how much treatment will cost and what social consequences it will have. Such interdisciplinary teams in various fields are more creative when it comes to coming up with solutions, because they have many points of view, with a huge common intellectual potential – adds the expert.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) coalition composition:
- prof. Agnieszka Mastalerz-Migas – president of the Polish Society of Family Medicine
- prof. Andrzej Fal – president of the Polish Society of Public Health
- prof. Marcin Czech – president of the Polish Pharmacoeconomic Society
- prof. Andrzej Oko – president of the Polish Nephrological Society
- prof. Magdalena Krajewska – vice-president of the Polish Society of Nephrology
- prof. Beata Naumnik – Head of the Nephrology and Transplantology Clinic with the Dialysis Center, Medical University of Białystok
- prof. Jolanta Małyszko – member of the Main Board of the Polish Nephrological Society
- prof. Tomasz Stompór – head of the Department of Nephrology, Hypertensiology and Internal Medicine in Olsztyn
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