Lifestyle change can prevent conditions caused by obesity

NEWDELHI:RAJKUMAR Patel, 25, a marketing professional working in Bangalore, had been unable to sleep because of breathlessness for days before he went to see a doctor. “At first, the doctors were confused because there seemed to be nothing wrong with my respiratory tract. Later, when they tested by blood creatinine level, they realised it was extremely high,” he said.

His creatinine level was 16 mg per dl. The normal level is 0.6 to 1.2 mg per dl for adult males.

“I was told I had stage five kidney failure and the only option was a transplant. I just wanted to go home to Gorakhpur, but the doctors said travelling in that condition would not be possible. I had to undergo dialysis for four days before I became stable enough to travel,” he said.

The chronic kidney disease was caused by uncontrolled hypertension which he was unaware about. “I used to get recurrent headaches but I have migraine so I thought nothing of it and by the time I got other symptoms, my kidney had been damaged a lot,” he said.

He will undergo a transplant in another 15 days. His mother will donate a kidney.

“There are several causes of chronic kidney disease and not all of it can be prevented. But the disease caused by obesity, hypertension and diabetes can and should be prevented by lifestyle changes and early diagnosis,” said Dr Anant Kumar, Patel’s treating doctor and chairman, urology, renal transplant and robotics at Max Saket.

Around 17.2% persons live with chronic kidney disease, with the disease progressing to stage 3 and beyond in nearly 6% people, according to SEEK (Screening and Early Evaluation of Kidney Disease) data.

“At any point, almost 4 lakh people in India need either regular dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Of these, only about 1 lakh people get some form of dialysis and only about 8,000 people get a transplant each year,” said Dr Dipankar Bhowmik, professor, department of nephrology at AIIMS .

“90% of patients requiring renal replacement therapy in India die because of inability to afford care, and even in those who do start the therapy, 60% stop due to financial reasons,” said a 2018 study in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

The 2017 Indian Chronic Kidney Disease study shows that of the 1,500 patients with kidney disease 49% were obese, and among women 57% were obese.