Ongole:'Good diet protects kidneys'

Ongole: People, who use medicines without prescription by qualified doctors, and eats junk foods, alcoholics and smokers are suffering from kidney diseases, than those, whose kidneys are damaged by snake bites and others, stated Dr Sridhar Reddy Sunkara, senior nephrologist at Ramesh Sanghamitra Hospital, in Ongole on Thursday.

Dr Sridhar Reddy said the second Thursday of March is being observed as World Kidney Day, since 2006 and this year they are creating awareness among the public on kidney diseases with the theme 'Kidney health for all'. He informed that kidneys clean blood and filter creatinine, urea and electrolytes harmful to the human body. When the kidneys fail, dialysis is required to do the filtering.

The nephrologist informed that in Prakasam district, at present there are more than 1,000 people, whose kidneys are not functioning. '35 sessions of dialysis are being done on these patients on daily basis. Kidneys of more than 11% of these patients are damaged as they failed to control diabetes.' He advised to have healthy lifestyle with a good diet and consume at least 8 to 10 glasses of water daily to protect kidneys. He said that it is advisable to test the functioning of kidneys twice a year and follow doctor's instructions. He warned the people suffering from chronic diseases to get their kidneys checked at regular intervals. Hospital COO Dr K Harikumar Reddy announced that the hospital is providing kidney transplant services to people with non-functioning kidneys.

He said that with the support of the latest equipment, they have a record of a 100% success rate in the kidney transplant service.

Hospital chairman Dr P Ramesh Babu said that they are proud of the hospital not only for offering dialysis and chronic kidney disease treatment but for also being the first hospital to offer kidney transplant service in Prakasam district.