Health experts have attributed the growing prevalence of kidney diseases in Nigeria to the consumption of contaminated foods, synthetic products and the influx of fake drugs.
A Consultant Urologist at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Sani Al-Hassam, said consumption of synthetic foods and an increase in some other health conditions are major causes of kidney diseases.
Mr Al Hassan, a professor said this on Wednesday at the flag-off of the dialysis unit at the Renal Centre of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi state.
He said some environmental causes of kidney diseases have been identified, especially in some riverine areas.
“We are now using a lot of fertilizer for agriculture, which actually enters water and we end up drinking a portion of it,” he said.
“Even the food we eat, there may be some remnant of this fertilizer and a lot of other synthetic food we are eating in the world is being attributed as a cause of kidney failure.”
He also lamented the influx of fake drugs into the country which he said is also a major cause of general body systems failure.
He noted that kidney disease is on the increase worldwide, and the causes are mainly hypertension, diabetes and chronic glomerulonephritis, which is a form of disease that mainly affects children but can occur in adults.
“And as we remind ourselves, the kidney is a filter and part of its job is to filter blood. Any toxin that enters blood has to come out through the kidney,” he said.
“If you take drugs, if you take food substances, when they finish their job in the system, they are filtered through the kidney. The kidney is the last one that takes the assault and it ends up failing.”
Mr Al Hassan, however, advised Nigerians to always go for medical check-ups to know their health status.
Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease is a progressive condition that reduces kidney function, that is its ability to filter waste from the blood. Kidney disease often has no symptoms in its early stages and can easily go undetected in most people until it is in its advanced stages.
In its advanced stage, an individual can develop kidney failure and require dialysis or a kidney transplant to live. At this stage, a CKD patient is said to lose 85-90 per cent of their kidney function; not enough to keep the person alive, without medical intervention.
Without the kidneys playing their vital role, substances that should otherwise be filtered, build up in the body. This makes the person severely ill.
Patients suffering from kidney diseases usually exhibit symptoms such as frequent or infrequent urination; shortness of breath, swelling in feet and ankles, muscle cramps, nausea and vomiting. Once these symptoms have been observed, there is a need for dialysis or a kidney transplant to live.
More than 20 million Nigerians are said to be living with kidney disease.
Renal Centre
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Jesse Uneke said the Renal Centre was established with the support of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Mr Uneke said the centre’s establishment is in keeping with the mission of the University to serve mankind.
He said the institution aims to achieve this by adopting the highest form of professionalism, ethics and excellence by training highly qualified health and other related professionals who will work to improve health outcomes.
“Our overall goal is not only to achieve the reversal on medical tourism but also the reversal of educational tourism,” he said.
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“As part of the central goal of establishing this university, which is for research, teaching and community development, the university has a mandate to establish Centres of Excellence that will be reputable for advancement in research, training and patient care.”
He noted that the centre operates with a multi-disciplinary team of experts specialising in conducting research and training on kidney-related issues and caring for people with care.
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