T Balasubramaniyan
Renal disease is an important non-communicable disease in India. Lack of awareness, late diagnosis, less accessibility and higher costs for renal replacement therapy have led to increased morbidity and mortality. Though the common view of no or less awareness among rural population of India is true to some extent, awareness about renal diseases is low even in urban people. We decided to address the ‘kidney health’ of urban population of Chennai on the occasion of World Kidney Day 2020 the theme of which was Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere - from Prevention to Detection and Equitable Access to Care. We conducted a kidney health screening camp at Chetpet, Chennai on March 9th 2020 where we checked blood pressure, urine albumin, blood urea, serum creatinine and random blood sugar for 253 people who were regular walkers. The mean age of the population was 53.4 yrs in which the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 29.2%, systemic hypertension in 26.1%. We also identified elevated serum creatinine in 0.9% of the subjects. The results of the study show the high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension which are the major risk factors for chronic kidney disease in seemingly “healthy” population. The study also points towards the need for screening the population for asymptomatic renal diseases by means of blood pressure monitoring, albuminuria and serum creatinine estimation which can be used as inexpensive tools for preventing major renal diseases. We also highlight the need for more public awareness regarding kidney health and the need to improve kidney health in India.
Keywords: World kidney day, Kidney health screening, Urban population
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