[blackwasp]

Bigger than continents: More Indians are afflicted with chronic kidney disease (CKD) than the entire European continent — in fact, India is home to the second largest number of people suffering from CKD after China and together, the world’s two most populous countries also constitute almost 35.5% of the total number of people suffering from CKD, according to a study published in the Lancet, ahead of World Kidney Day being observed today.

Deadly disease: With nearly 2.24 lakh deaths in 2017 due to CKD, India has the highest number of deaths associated with kidney failure than any other country. India's CKD death count is higher than the number of fatalities due to the disease in Europe and North America combined — with the difference between Europe and India itself being over 1 lakh deaths.

A long wait: India’s problem in tackling CKD is compounded by the long waiting period for a kidney transplant — while the global average is 3-5 years, in India, the waiting time could extend up to 10 years in states like Karnataka. That’s because organ harvesting from cadavers — organ donation from deceased donors — is extremely low. Between 1971 and 2015, out of the 21,395 kidney transplants, just 783 — or 3.66% — came from deceased donors. The cost of dialysis — required three times a week — can go up to Rs 4,500 per sitting, with patients incurring a cost of anywhere between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh on treatment, right from diagnosis to transplant

Source

[GTO]

This is a topic that is very close to my heart as Dad suffered kidney failure - related thread (Dialysis : Advice, Tips & Suggestions).

For those of us who are still young / middle-aged:

- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Good food + exercise + sleep + mental health are the key to a healthy, enjoyable life.

- Keep diabetes at bay, or control it if you already have it.

- Control your food intake & maintain the right weight (obesity causes many other problems too).

- Keep high blood pressure at bay, or control if you already have it. Also avoid excessive salt in food.

- If you unfortunately suffer kidney failure, evaluate transplant options while you start dialysis. Do it while you are still young (wasn't an option for Dad due to his age).

- Keep hydrated. Have water throughout the day (not excessively though).

- Don't smoke or vape .

- Check the pills & medicines you take. Some cause kidney damage.

[MDED]

The whopping number of cases in India is a matter of great introspection! We can't blame the government of the day squarely. The responsibility lie on each healthy or not so healthy individual to ensure that we keep the biggest culprit, OBESITY at bay.

IMHO, we eat at least thrice a day and the meal time ranges from 10-35 minutes or more based on the paucity of time which one has. So put together, we spend minimum 30 minutes of our time to eat, so can we not do at least 30 minutes of exercise to keep all the health issues at bay. Trust me, it might sound like a cliche, but daily exercise of 30 minutes has been doing wonders for me.

Download Google Fit App to keep you motivated!

All the best.

[Ranjith812]

Early diagnosis is the key factor. Most people with kidney diseases feel well, with no symptoms. Even when kidney function is reduced to 10% normal, you may still feel perfectly well. The only way to reliably detect kidney problems is by a blood test for creatinine, and a urine test for protein. These are done routinely as a part of general medical check-up.

If early kidney disease is detected , treatment of the cause may be very simple. By maintaining healthy and balanced diet we can prevent it from getting any worse.

Advancements in medicines and more awareness among people especially in rural areas will pave way for better outcomes in the future.

[aargee]

A little OT here to share our personal experience of warning that one of our close relative is undergoing...

A close relative was diagnosed with FSGS (Focal Segmental GlomeruloSclerosis), all we could say is, we've lost faith with the health industry. Few centuries ago, our faith was with Doctors & not with medicines, now a days, our faith is with medicines & not Doctors.

Be it Bangalore or Chennai, every single Doctor & every single diagnosis are always heading from Kidney to Heart to Lungs to Brain; basically towards all the vitals & vitals only. At such time of hour, even having a Doctor as relative will not help, but, a Doctor who does not have a target on his head at the hospital, who sees a patient as patient & not as an ATM machine will be of God sent help. With very great difficulty, risks & shifting to 3 different hospitals got him a right treatment that there was no need for angioplasty. But yes, the scan reports always shows the heart enlargement (some even said a valve being missing as well)

These days the problem is that, there's a specialist for hair to nail; for every complaint these experts are being called & they do "their best" to deviate the case in their favor to meet their "targets" (like every service advisor at ASC)

And if its a multispeciality hospital, extremely high chances there's going to be a call for Doctors who are experts at each of the organ. And paying a bill is no big deal as most employees have insurance amount of 10-15 Lakhs

Titbits - A decade & half ago our Father in law had a sudden BP raise of about 300 & fell down (after which he got up & he took an auto to the hospital himself). He was taken to an extremely famous hospital at Bangalore (located enroute from Electronics City to Flyover); he was instructed to fit a pacemaker immediately in next 24 hours failing to which he will suffer cardiac arrest. That was the diagnosis & prescribed treatment. My Mother in Law being a strong lady, took a call & said BIG NO & went against medical advice & took to Trivandrum for personal care under Doctors. He was diagnosed with Kidney failure with NO PROBLEM IN HEART. He went to live on for 4 more years with dialysis. He not only had a large heart, but also a healthy one.

Of-course I'm not blaming every single Doctor in this world; there're Doctors whom I know personally who're extremely good at heart & work to both service & care two hoots on the hospital targets. I'm sharing our experience as a warning to most folks who may not be aware of how the kidney related diseases are steered.

Edit - Another point being, most of the reasons for kidney problems are...
1. No sufficient water intake
2. Having food at wrong time (even skipping a meal is good, but having at a wrong time is where the danger lies)

[am1m]

Originally Posted by aargee

2. Having food at wrong time (even skipping a meal is good, but having at a wrong time is where the danger lies)

Could you elaborate on this please, or provide a link to some information.

I understand that what one eats will make a huge difference (protein, salt, etc.). But haven't read anything about irregular meal timings having any particular effect on the kidneys. (I can understand that regular meal timings will be good for digestion in general.)

Asking because I'm a very irregular eater. I eat when hungry, at around the same time each day, but no fixed timings.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by aargee

2. Having food at wrong time (even skipping a meal is good, but having at a wrong time is where the danger lies)

Um, what happens to followers of IF and OMAD? I am not aware of this exact time to eat.

[alpha1]

So the thread has still not concluded what makes Indians so susceptible to CKD?
Something genetic like diabetes Type-2?

I don't think obesity can be the primary reason, since the developed word is definitely more obese than India.

[ast.ggn]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Um, what happens to followers of IF and OMAD? I am not aware of this exact time to eat.

IF and OMAD can never be a long term solution. Those who are trying to cut may go with IF or whatever diet is "in" these days, a balanced diet is way to go for long term physical well-being. GTO has nicely covered all possible inputs for a healthy lifestyle

[Frankenstein]

Kidney stuff is a big mafia in India. Doctors encourage high carb diet, atleast in the past 20 years, person gets diabetes , they give tablet , then insulin, which slowly damage organs. End result is dialysis and the patient dies slowly.

2nd option is transplant, no they will not allow it to happen because with dialysis they can earn as long as the patient lives, with transplant , its one shot and over.

Now the thing with transplant is they dont tell you the patient will not survive after that. They will sooner or later die with infections because of immunity suppression medication.

Heck they even control the availability of cyclosporin and make it not available.