Are you diabetic or hypertens­ive?

Kidneys play an important role in the body: they filter the blood, removing waste products and excess salt and water. If the kidneys become diseased, they fail in their task, leaving the blood polluted. Finding out that you have early kidney disease can alert you that your kidneys are in danger. It is important to take steps to protect your kidneys before the problem advances.

What are the symptoms of kidney disease

People who develop kidney disease usually have no symptoms early on, although the condition puts them at risk of developing more serious kidney disease.Symptoms like swelling of lower limbs, face swelling, difficulty in breathing, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, decrease in hemoglobin level and bone disease develop at very late stages of kidney disease.

How to diagnose kidney disease

Urine tests for protein called albumin are recommended once per year in people with diabetes and hypertension, staring at the time of diagnosis. If there is albumin more than 30mg/day in urine or urine albumin creatinine ratio more than 30mg/g of creatinine, it means you may have kidney disease. Blood chemistry abnormalities like rise in creatinine and blood urea develop at late stages of kidney disease.(The author is a consultant nephrologist and transplant physician)

By Dr Dilip M Babu