Guwahati, March 14: To increase awareness of the importance of kidneys to our health and reduce the impact of kidney disease and associated problems worldwide, the World Kidney Day is celebrated on the second Thursday of March every year.
The upcoming PA Sangma International Medical College (PIMC) and Hospital in collaboration with the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) today celebrated this worldwide campaign with enlightening presentations and knowledge sharing by renowned nephrologist and organ transplant specialist Padma Shri Dr Sarbeswar Sahariah, Prof Dipti Devi, Ped Nephrologist, and Prof Chitralekha Baruah from the Department of Medicine, PIMC, USTM, according to a Press communique.
Addressing an enthusiastic gathering of students and faculty members at the NKC Auditorium, Dr Sarbeswar Sahariah, Pro Vice Chancellor of USTM stated, “Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is currently not curable, it can cause people to need care for the rest of their lives. CKD triggers other health issues like cardiovascular diseases leading to premature death or disability”.
He said that if not detected early enough, it may progress to kidney failure and then require dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. He said that 10 percent of the adult population suffer from CKD and every year, millions die due to this.
Dr Sahariah mentioned the eight golden rules to prevent kidney disease: keep fit & active, keep regular control of blood sugar level, monitor blood pressure regularly, eat healthy and keep weight in check, stay hydrated, no smoking, not take over-the-counter pills regularly, and to get the kidney function tested if one has some high-risk factor. “Water is the main source of energy for function of the kidneys. We need to mobilize our friends, colleagues and relatives to drink water for the wellbeing of the kidneys”, he added.
Making her presentation, Prof Dipti Devi said that the global burden of CKD will result in the 5th most common cause of mortality by 2040. Since the treatment is costly, the response to this global health epidemic should be prevention, early detection and intervention. Most common causes of kidney disease are high blood pressure, diabetes, family history of kidney disease, obesity, age (over 50 years) etc. Early CKD has no symptoms, one can lose up to 90 percent of the kidney function without any sign. Therefore, one should be careful since early detection is highly important.
Earlier, the welcome address was made by Dr Rashna D Hazarika, Medical Superintendent, PIMC. The programme ended with the concluding remarks made by Prof Chitralekha Baruah.