LAHORE: Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) Department of Internal Medicine and Consultant Nephrology Head Dr Junaid Iqbal on Thursday said that chronic kidney disease (CKD) was common and associated with significant cardiovascular co-morbidity. He also said that CKD could lead to end-stage renal failure, and remained underdiagnosed in Pakistan with approximately 16,000 to 20,000 patients being affected by it annually.
Highlighting the importance of women health specifically related to kidney diseases on the World Kidney Day, Dr Junaid said the CKD affected approximately 195 million women worldwide and was currently the 8th leading cause of death in women, with close to 600,000 deaths each year.
“CKD is more likely to develop in women as compared to men due to psycho-socioeconomic barriers such as lower disease awareness lead to late or no start of dialysis among women and secondly owing to the uneven access to care especially in countries like Pakistan and other developing countries,” he added.
He also said that various diseases affected kidney health in women. Some of these, he said, were similar to the problems in men such as that of uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
“Some of the medical problems are more prevalent in women such as Lupus Nephritis which is a kidney disease caused by an autoimmune disease and leads to the immune system attacking one’s own cells and organs,” said Dr Junaid while adding that it could cause progressive kidney disease and lead to kidney failure.
“Similarly Pyelonephritis or infection of the kidney can involve one or both kidneys and lead to kidney failure if untreated,” he said.
“There is a clear need for higher awareness of CKD in pregnancy in a bid to timely identify CKD and to follow-up women with CKD during and after condition. In this respect, pregnancy may also be a valuable occasion for early diagnosis of the disease, thus allowing planning of therapeutic interventions,” added Dr Junaid.
“We need national government-led and supported kidney health awareness initiatives and educational programs especially focused on women and healthy kidneys. Here at SKMCH, the medical staff ensures that all patients are appropriately screened for kidney disease and are provided with appropriate education regarding kidney disease treatment and follow-up. People with acute or chronic kidney problems are reviewed and followed up by the nephrology team,” he concluded.