‘ Dietary therapy better; Ayurveda to control kidney ailments’

A controlled diet can slow down progress of chronic kidney disease ( CKD) and the need for dialysis by improving blood sugar control and checking blood pressure. However, 90 per cent of patients who do not require dialysis never see a dietician, says a new research published in the latest edition of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Most adults with chronic kidney disease remain poorly informed of how diet influences disease management and progression,” said study author Dr. Holly Kramer from Loyola University in Chicago.

The study findings seem to also hold good for India where kidney diseases are on the rise and the government’s focus is more on providing dialysis which is costly and, at times, not easily available than taking measures for dietlinked early interventions and promoting traditional Ayurvedic medicines.

Dr Georgi Abraham, nephrologist and professor of medicine at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry, cited findings from one of his studies which noted that about 42 to 77 per cent kidney patients undergoing dialysis treatment at different hospitals are malnourished.

He said that targeted interventions directed at improving the nutritional status of patients could have a major impact on reducing CKD burden in India. CKD, or end- stage renal disease, is a progressive loss of kidney function over time.

Senior nephrologist from Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Manish Malik agreed. “The scope of treatment in allopathy is very limited, costly and not fully successful. Hence, a balanced diet and Ayurvedic cost- effective drugs like Neeri KFT based on herbs can help all those kidney patients who are under the regular dialysis,” he said.

K. K. Sharma from Aimil Pharma, which manufactures Neeri- KFT among other herbal drugs, pointed out that it ( Neeri- KFT) is a kidney protective formula based on unique combination of drugs such as punernava, developed after more than a decade of research.

In fact, a scientific study published in the Indo American Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, which gauged the efficacy of punernava and other herbs in the Neeri- KFT, showed that the formula helps maintain histological parameter of kidney.

Authors of a recent review published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology too have found that dietary therapy benefits patients with advanced CKD.

Existing data also supports plant- based diet as an option to all patients with advanced or progressive CKD. Foods rich in ginger, onion and garlic and herb based drugs can be therapeutic.

In India, about 2.2 lakh new patients of end- stage renal disease get added every year resulting in an additional demand for 3.4 crore dialysis sessions.

In a CKD patient, kidneys can no longer filter toxins from blood. Anyone can get CKD at any age. However, those having diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of kidney failure or are old are more prone to CKD.