Kidney Damage Symptoms you Should not ignore

With growing incidences of Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension, there has been a rise in the prevalence of Kidney Diseases. It is expected that by 2020 CKD would contribute 66.7% of all deaths in our country. It is a major health problem, leading cause of mortality and morbidity. It accounts for 60% of deaths worldwide and of these 80% deaths occur in low and middle socio economic status.

Unfortunately, kidney disease presents late in course. Early detection can be done only by investigations. At risk individuals like patients with Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart Disease (CAD), long term painkiller use, obese individuals who smoke, patients of age > 60 years and patients who have family history of kidney disease should be screened atleast once a year.

Be aware  of the signs of Chronic Kidney Disease:

The symptoms and signs of Kidney disease are usually non specific like – weakness, lethargy, intractable anemia, nausea, tiredness, breathlessness on exertion, fatigue, etc. However few symptoms which are strong predictor of Kidney Disease are:

• Swelling over face or feet (Periorbital Puffiness) – This is quite synonymous with kidney disease. Patients develop swelling over their eyes and this is best noticed in morning hours when they wake.
• Forthy Urine – Patients who start passing protein in urine experience that there is lot of froth in their urine. Froth in urine denotes protein in urine which is an early sign of Kidney Disease.
• Fluctuation in Diabetic control – Patients who have diabetes and which had been under good control start having recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia. These group of patients should have their kidney tested at the earliest.
• Nocturia – This means passing lot of urine at night. Normally, we don’t get up at night to pass urine. Urinating many times at night is one of the earliest symptoms of Kidney Disease.
• New onset hypertension/Hypertension in young – All young individuals who have developed hypertension, should be screened for kidney disease. Patients who already have hypertension and which is now getting worse should also be screened for the same.

It is essential that we act fast as soon as we feel that there is any abnormality. Early detection and timely treatment can ensure that situations don’t become complicated.