Celebrating World Kidney Day
JOBURG – Kidney disease affects millions of people worldwide, including many children who may be at risk at an early age.
Some children are often born with kidney disorders or acquire them after birth. On World Kidney Day on 10 March, Life Renal Dialysis, part of the Life Healthcare Group is encouraging education, early detection and a healthy lifestyle in children to increase awareness and prevention of kidney disease.
According to the first South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 18 percent of children under the age of 15 are estimated to be overweight, while about four percent are obese.
Rachael de Zeeuw, nephrologist and head of the renal dialysis unit at the hospital, explained that this was worrying considering that maintaining a positive body mass index was one of the ways to limit the chances of being diagnosed with kidney disease. De Zeeuw said, “Making healthy lifestyle decisions like increasing physical movement and exercise can benefit kidneys.”
There are a number of symptoms associated with kidney disease and, in children, these can include pain in the back, side, or lower belly; burning or pain when urinating; changes in the urine colour; bed or pants wetting; unexplained fever, and dehydration.
De Zeeuw added that, unfortunately, kidney problems in children were often missed due to the fact that the symptoms were quite nonspecific. In childhood, hereditary conditions were the most common cause of kidney failure, she said.
The good news, though, is that kidney disease can be detected by a simple urine test and a blood test to measure the level of creatinine (elevated creatinine levels signify impaired kidney function or kidney disease) in your blood.
On World Kidney Day, Life Renal Dialysis will be offering various educational activities to help communities better understand their kidneys and learn how to reduce the risks.
“While we have the privilege of being able to manage and treat kidney disease with state-of-the-art equipment, we still need to address prevention and early detection of kidney disease,” said De Zeeuw.
