Myths & misconceptions around kidney disease

There is a major myth that if you are suffering from kidney disease, you should drastically restrict or cut out altogether the intake of protein such as meat, fish and egg, while eating only such vegetables as rabu (radish).

This is a fallacy, stresses Prof. Eranga Wijewickrama, as a protein deficiency in the diet would lead to malnourishment. This, in turn, would lead to a drop in creatinine, which is misconstrued as “good” but it happens because of muscle-mass reduction and not due to recovering from kidney disease. So it is bad.

Looking at a typical plate of rice of a Sri Lankan, he points out that “we don’t eat high-protein diets, only a small piece of fish or meat or an egg. If we stop eating this little protein, we can become malnourished”.

He says that another major misconception is that the medicine prescribed for diabetes, metformin, is nephrotoxic. This is an absolute fallacy as not controlling diabetes is a huge risk factor for kidney disease. Metformin, like any medication, needs to be taken under the advice of a doctor.

Strongly advocating against falling victim to spurious claims by several groups that kidney disease can be “cured”, Prof. Wijewickrama is adamant with proof that such claims are false.

Regrettably, patients waste valuable time trying out socalled cures. Such loss of time would compel them to undergo dialysis for a long period thereafter, whereas they could have gone directly for a kidney transplant, he says, adding that with the passing of time, trying out these false claims, they also become exposed to infection and get weaker.

“So don’t try out this and that. Follow time-tested science and medical protocols,” he adds.