High bp, diabetes, untreated kidney stones main reasons of kidney failure in India: Dr Raka Kaushal

Chandigarh, June 29, 2024: To create awareness on chronic kidney disease & kidney transplant a team of doctors from Ivy Hospital Mohali, addressed the media today. Present on the occasion were Dr Avinash Srivastava senior director urology & renal transplant & Dr Raka Kaushal senior director nephrology from Ivy Hospital Mohali.        

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Avinash Srivastava said, “2.2 lakh new patients develop Chronic Kidney Failure in our country every year and it is also the 6th fastest growing cause of death, which may change to become the 5th leading cause by 2040. High blood pressure, Diabetes, BPH, untreated kidney stones and UTI are the main reasons of kidney failure in India.”

He further said that Ivy Hospital which is now Punjab’s biggest super speciality network with 5 hospitals, 750 beds, 280 ICU beds has completed 1200 successful kidney transplants in Punjab.

Dr Avinash also shared that at Ivy Hospital we are doing all type of living donor transplants, which include high risk transplants, paediatric transplants, swap cases, ABO incompatible transplants (non-blood group specific) & redo transplants.
Even Patients from far off places like Dehradun, Jammu, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bihar, Jharkhand, Canada, UK, Australia have also undergoing kidney transplant at Ivy Hospital.

Elucidating the benefits of a renal transplant to the patient in the long run Dr Raka Kaushal said, “Although kidney transplant appears to be an expensive investment at the outset, kidney transplant is the most economical amongst the three RRT options in long run, and also provides the best quality of life compared to that in dialysis or CAPD. Because of growing population of diabetes and hypertension, each year about 2.20 lakh new patients develop CRF in our country. But transplant takes place in only about 6000 cases, because of lack of awareness of people and unavailability of donor.”

She further informed that kidneys filter blood approximately 400 times a day. If the kidneys do not function well, they may lead to chronic kidney disease. Uncontrolled high blood pressure, high blood sugar over the years can be the possible reasons behind it. To prevent oneself from kidney diseases, one must reduce salt intake to lower blood pressure and avoid drinking alcohol and smoking. Being physically fit and active also helps in preventing renal diseases. Over-the-counter drugs must be avoided and healthy body weight must be maintained. Diabetes and obesity is a major risk factor for kidney disease, hence it is important for people with diabetes to have regular tests to check their blood sugar levels and also manage their weight. Blood pressure must also be kept in check and the body should be well-hydrated.

Dr Raka Kaushal shared that recently a 22 year old female patient from Palampur, who was bed ridden, very weak with recurrent infections, unable to eat, was not doing well on dialysis was referred at Ivy. She was a very high risk patient for kidney transplant & her survival chances were very blink. She underwent kidney transplant on Oct10 last year at Ivy. She made remarkable recovery after the transplant.

Discussing how chronic kidney failure leads to irreversible damage to the kidneys, Dr Raka said, “Chronic kidney failure (CRF) is progressive in nature and irreversible damage to the kidneys could happen mainly because of diabetes, hypertension, infection, urinary obstruction, stone disease and some inherited abnormalities. Advanced stage of Chronic Renal Failure (or End Stage Renal Disease -- ESRD) requires some form of Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) like Haemodialysis (filtering the blood off toxins & waste products) or Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD).”

The prevalence of this disease has almost doubled over the past decade, and is expected to increase further due to rise in risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, stress, and unhealthy eating habits.

Dr Avinash said “At Ivy, we have a state-of-the -art 20 bedded Dialysis centre in our Hospital and we offer 24 x 7 dialysis services, including intervention nephrology services like permacath, AV fistula, renal biopsies and centrelines.
He also shared that Ivy Hospital Mohali is empanelled with ECHS, CGHS, ESI , CAPF and all major TPA & corporates. 

10 tips to prevent kidney disease:
1. Manage diabetes, high blood pressure.
2. Reduce the intake of salt:
3. Drink 8- 10 glass of water every day
4. Don’t resist the urge to urinate
5. Eat a balanced Diet including lots of fruits. 
6. Drink healthy beverages
7. Avoid alcohol and smoking
8. Exercise daily
9. Avoid self-medication, especially painkillers.
10. Think before you take Protein supplements and herbal medicine without discussing with your doctor