Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre Nephrologist and Consultant Hospitalist Dr Mahmood Saeed Khan while talking to a group of students visiting hospital said that human kidneys were amazing organs which played the crucial role of keeping people alive and well.
Kidneys help control blood pressure, generate red blood cells, keep bones healthy, maintain level of electrolytes and acid base disorders, regulate water and excrete nitrogenous products, he said, adding that under normal conditions, the kidneys filter and clean litres of blood everyday and therefore play a central role in people’s lives. Identifying key strategies against the chronic kidney disease (CKD), Mahmood stressed on the need for screening the general population. The most common, but not the only, causes of CKD were hypertension and diabetes, he said, adding that he observed that clues that could make people aware of kidney problems were general weakness, increasing paleness, aches and pain, vomiting, loss of appetite, body swelling, breathing difficulties and blood in urine.
In kidney cancer, Renal Cell Carcinomas was notorious for its late detection and was mainly caused by our toxic environment, Mahmood revealed.
Furthermore, he said that bladder tumor and cyst development led to kidney cancer and that kidney stones caused obstruction and could be cured with medicines. He informed the students that the kidney patients needed to drink enough water to urinate two litres daily and that the parathyroid glands of such patients also needed to be addressed.
Mahmood added that toxic drugs and fake medicines had their considerable share in kidney damage. Self-medication, especially the long term use of pain-killer tablets and antibiotics was harmful for kidneys, he said, adding that many kidney diseases could be treated efficiently if diagnosed in time. “Otherwise, permanent kidney damage occurs that can prove fatal for the patient,” he stated. He was of the view that blood pressure and diabetes must be optimally controlled to keep the kidneys fit. Diet, nutrition and lifestyle should be healthy throughout the life even if diabetes or blood pressure was under control, he advised.
