Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital highlighted the importance of World Kidney Day
Yolanda Kay Barendse is in her 46th year as a kidney transplant patient.
Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital observed World Kidney Day on March 14 with a fun-filled interactive session with patients and the public.
According to the World Kidney Day Organisation, “World Kidney Day is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of our kidneys. Awareness about preventive behaviours, awareness about risk factors, and awareness about how to live with kidney disease.”
The transplant manager at the hospital Anja Meyer explained that the day aimed to educate the community on how to care for their kidneys, and the importance of checking their sugar and blood levels since those are the major causes of kidney failure.
Meyer explained the difference between the two types of dialysis machines. “Hemodialysis is ongoing dialysis, used three to five times a week and cleans your blood, in a hospital. The hemodialysis access is in your arm. Peritoneal dialysis is a daily, ongoing dialysis that collects waste from the blood by washing the space in the abdomen called the peritoneal cavity. It can be done at home.”
A surviving transplant recipient, Yolanda Kay Barendse said she had a kidney transplant 46 years ago. The kidney was donated by her father when she was 13 years old.
“I received a kidney transplant due to a sore throat which caused an infection in the kidneys called glomerulonephritis, and was on dialysis for eight months until my father donated his kidney to me. I lived a normal life and my kidney has been doing fine for 46 years.”
Barendse encouraged the public to consider donating organs that could save lives and added there was life after kidney transplants as she continued to be a living testimony.
Dietician Nicole Ribeiro talked about the diet for kidney patients.
“We look at meeting the patients’ energy requirements and focus on restricting their protein intake. Protein is made up of meat, chicken, fish, and legumes, and if the patient over-consumes protein, a by-product forms called urea, which is filtered by the kidneys and puts the kidneys under strain. “
Ribeiro added if dialysis patients did not eat sufficient protein they would lose muscle mass so a balance had to be maintained.
The dietician noted that patients’ electrolytes, which were made up of sodium, potassium, and phosphate, were also assessed.
“The main concern in South Africa is sodium because the population is salt-sensitive and we need to pay attention to the intake.”
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