Prevention, best way to manage kidney diseases.
In
view of the increasing incidences of kidney diseases, the Renal Dialysis Centre
(RDC), Ikeja, Lagos, says the best way
to manage the condition is through prevention.
Dr
John Okoh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of RDC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos
that from clinic observations and available statistics, more people were coming
down with kidney disease.
He
spoke on the sidelines of a free screening outreach organised by the centre at
the Alade Market, Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday.
The
screening is part of the centre’s activities to mark the 2019 World Kidney Day
(WKD), marked annually on March 14 with theme for 2019 being “Kidney Health for
Everyone Everywhere’’.
Okoh
said: “One of the prescribed ways of managing the disease now is actually
prevention, protection and early detection and to do the things to keep the
kidneys healthy.
Cases
of kidney diseases are increasing daily, hence the reason we are here, to try
to screen people.
“This
free screening avails people of the opportunity to check their status because
many of them may not want to go to health facilities because of cost
implications and other biases.
“So,
we bring the opportunity for a health check to them and encourage them to do
regular check-up.”
He
also decried the unwillingness of people to voluntarily donate kidneys for
transplantation, hence the emphasis on prevention.
However,
Okoh told NAN that one of the ways of managing kidney disease is by dialysis,
which is expensive.
According
to him, the Renal Dialysis Centre has a chain of dialysis centres for the
treatment of renal diseases
Our
mission is to provide accessible, affordable and quality dialysis service to
people with kidney disease through individualised care to improve quality of
life.
“The
aim is to ensure our business meets world class standards, using homegrown
solutions to reach more people who are suffering from kidney disease,” Okoh
said.
Fraser
Black, a business coach at the Stanford Seed and consultant to RDC, commended
the centre for its attention to high quality care, affordability and accessible
dialysis treatment and health care.
He
advised people to avoid salt, smoking, drinking and focus on keeping
hypertension down, avoid diabetes and overweight (obesity) and adopt healthy lifestyle as the best way to
avoid kidney disease.
On
the possible causes of kidney disease, Dr Chinedu Odum, a Nephrologist and
Consultant Physician said: “One of the causes is high blood pressure.
“It
is the number one cause of kidney disease in Africa and many people don’t know
they have high blood pressure.
“Also,
diabetes can be a cause; anyone who has long standing high blood sugar can come
down with complications.
“There
are environmental and lifestyle causes which include fumes, smokes, drinking
alcohol, and herbal mixtures and even bleaching; these have some component
which can damage the kidney.
“It
is a lot cheaper to prevent kidney damage because once you have kidney damage
there is no going back; we plead with people to be more aware of the factors
that increase the illness,” he said.
NAN
reports that the free screening started with a health walk from the Opebi
Roundabout (GT Fountain) and ended at the Alade market.
No
fewer than 2, 500 people were screened, counselled and given information by
health professionals about what kidneys are, how they function, as well as how
to manage their health.
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