About 33 million Indians suffering from CKD: Expert

Bangalore, Mar 9 (UNI) An estimated 33 million people in India suffer from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and the number is likely to go up to 70 million by 2025, noted nephrologist Urmila Anantdh has said.

''Cases of diabetes are dangerously increasing among the Indian population. It is estimated that 33 million people are affected in India and the number is likely to go up to 70 million by 2025,'' she told UNI here yesterday after inaugurating a CKD Prevention Clinic at Apollo Hospital here.

According to Dr Anantdh the two most common causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure.

''About 30 to 40 per cent of diabetics run the risk of developing CKD,'' she said.

Noting the importance of getting oneself regularly checked the senior nephrology consultant said, ''It is very easy to undergo a test to know the health status of your kidneys as it takes a simple urine and blood test. The real worry is the disease will not happen all of a sudden, but act as a slow killer.'' Dr Anantdh said, however, there were some warning signs like change in urinary habits, swelling in the legs and around the eyes and rising blood pressure. ''These symptoms should not be neglected and require urgent medical attention,'' she added.

The expert regretted that neurologists were branded as organ stealers. ''The society should do something to remove this stigma.

No doctor would like to treat a person at another's cost. The organ donation statutes have made it difficult for kidney transplants that has resulted in loss of precious lives. We have to find a via-media solution. This is not a problem in India alone. There is an ongoing international debate on the matter,'' she said.

Expressing concern over some practitioners who had earned a bad name for nephrologists by indulging in kidney rackets, Dr Anandth said the subject would be debated in the World Congress of Nephrology, to be held at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil next month, where top transplant surgeons would come together.

UNI