Star News Agency

New Delhi. A growing number of Indians have chronic kidney disease, but most remain unaware of it, hampering efforts to prevent irreversible kidney failure requiring dialysis or a transplant, said Dr. KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

In the recently concluded MTNL Perfect Health Mela it was found that over 90% of people with mild CKD with kidney functions ranging between 40-60% did not know about the illness.

As per data in the USA about 13 percent of the population — now have chronic kidney disease. Increase in diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and the aging explain at least some of the increase in kidney diseases.

Kidney function can be estimated with a formula that considers the amount of creatinine in a blood sample, along with age and gender.

Creatinine is a waste product created by normal breakdown of muscle cells during activity. When kidneys are ailing, creatinine builds up in the blood. Also damaged kidneys may persistently leak albumin from the blood into the urine, sometimes even when kidney function appears normal.

In a JAMA international study only 11.6 percent of men and 5.5 percent of women with moderate (stage 3) kidney disease knew it. Awareness increased to 22.8 percent among participants with stage 3 disease and albumin in the urine. Awareness was highest among people with severe (stage 4) kidney disease, only 42 percent of them knew that they had the condition. Stage 5 is kidney failure.

Kidney disease is often silent until late stages, but if we can find it early we can do a lot to prevent kidney failure. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of kidney problems you are at risk and should be screened for kidney damage with routine blood and urine tests.

To help protect the kidneys' small blood vessels, carefully control high blood pressure, and blood sugar if you're diabetic, and ask your doctor if you should take an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker.

Kidney disease raises the risk of early death, heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure; causes anemia, bone disease and malnutrition; and can lead to kidney failure.