Times of India
03 March 2011
By Malathy Iyer

Around 45,000 Dialyses Are Performed Every Month In The City–The Highest In Any Indian Metro, Say Doctors
WORLD KIDNEY DAY
If the waiting list for a kidney in the city is any indication, Mumbai is in the grips of an epidemic. Last year, 2,500 patients registered for a donor kidney with the city’s Zonal Transplantation Coordination Centre (ZTCC), more than four times the figure five years ago.

"The burden of the disease seems the highest in Mumbai because its ZTCC has the highest number of registrations in comparison to ZTCCs of Chennai and Hyderabad, which take registrations for their entire states," said nephrologist Dr Madan Bahadur, who is attached to the state–run J J Hospital, and Jaslok Hospital in south Mumbai.

Dr Niwrutti Hase, who heads the nephrology department of KEM Hospital said, "Around 45,000 dialyses are performed every month in Mumb a i – t h e highest in any city in India."

In a country where 800 people per million suffer from some form of kidney disease, the city stands out with its higher disease burden as well as better facilities. Put differently, the number of patients across the country who slip into end–stage renal disease every year stands at a staggering 1.7 lakh. "Less than 10% of the total patients receive any help. Most others succumb to the disease," said Bahadur.

But what is causing such an epidemic of kidney failure? Doctors said that Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is on the rise because of complications of other conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Dr Hemant Mehta, secretary of Mumbai Nephrology Group, said: "If you study 100 patients suffering from kidney failure, around 35 to 50 of them will also have diabetes. Around 15 will have hypertension. So, more than half of the disease burden is due to diabetes and hypertension."

There also is a new and worrying facet to the kidney failure epidemic. "Analysis from across the world indicates that kidney failure patients who don’t have diabetes are also vulnerable to heart disease. In fact, the number of patients on dialysis who die due to heart disease is so high that the theme of this year’s World Kidney Day is ‘protect your kidney, save your heart’," said Mehta.

A new survey done by the Narmada Kidney Foundation found that 62.5% of those surveyed were obese, 40% had high blood pressure (BP) and 20% were found to be diabetic. The foundation’s founder Dr Bharat Shah said, "With increasing incidence of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, there has been a tremendous increase in the incidence of chronic kidney disease. This, in turn, significantly increases the incidence of heart disease.’’

Tips to Reduce the Burden of Kidney Disease

• Reduce salt intake
• Stick to a healthy diet
• Drink 8 glasses of water daily (1.5 litres)
• Exercise for 30 minutes every day
• Reach a health weight
• Avoid cigarette smoking and smoke.
• Control your blood sugar if you have diabetes
• Control blood pressure if you have high BP

Health Risk
A new survey conducted by the Narmada Kidney Foundation found that 62.5% of those surveyed were obese, 40% had high blood pressure (BP) and 20% were found to be diabetic Every heart attack carries a 2% risk to life, but if the person also has a kidney disease the risk to life rises to 30%