People are primarily interested in knowing their cholesterol and blood pressure levels. However, they also need to know the status of their kidneys to see if they are healthy or not.
Your kidneys play a crucial role in keeping you alive, as do your brain and heart. These two fist-sized organs, located in the lower back, play a very important role by acting as filters by removing waste and extra fluid from the body. They also keep blood pressure under control. People are primarily interested in knowing their cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. However, they also need to know about the status of your kidneys to see if your kidneys are healthy or if you have chronic kidney disease, also known as CKD.
CKD is a condition that means the kidneys are damaged and cannot filter the blood as they should. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease. In India too, the disease is commonly seen in people with diabetes. Studies have suggested that almost one in two people with diabetes have CKD, which also indicates that it is underdiagnosed in our country. Another estimate suggests that one in eight Indians experience the chronic condition.
Why is it important to know about kidney health?
If you are diagnosed with CKD, it means that you have had a kidney problem for the past few months. You may develop chronic kidney disease slowly and silently, without even knowing it. You may lose kidney function for many years without significant symptoms. People often find out about their condition only when their kidneys have failed and it is too late for preventative treatment. In this situation, they often need dialysis or a kidney transplant. That’s why it’s important to know your kidney numbers.
Two Important Markers for Detecting Kidney Disease
Two important markers for detecting kidney disease are estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR). While eGFR is measured with a blood test, uACR is measured with a urinalysis. eGFR shows how well your kidneys clean the blood and uACR shows that if there is a protein called albumin in your urine, it may mean that your kidneys are damaged.
eGFR is calculated from stable serum creatinine levels at least once a year, especially in all patients with diabetes. eGFR is more accurate than serum creatinine alone. Serum creatinine is affected by muscle mass and factors related to age, gender, and race. eGFR is not reliable for patients with rapidly changing creatinine levels, extremes in muscle mass and body size, or altered diet patterns.
A uACR test basically lets the doctor know how much albumin passes into the urine during a 24 hour period. Kidney disease may refer to a urine albumin test result of 30 or higher. The test can also be repeated once or twice to confirm the results. We should assess urinary albumin excretion annually to diagnose and monitor kidney damage in patients with type 1 diabetes for five years or more or with type 2 diabetes. More frequent monitoring may be indicated in patients with changing clinical status or after interventions. therapeutic.
In addition to your kidney numbers, your doctor will use your medical history and perform other imaging and laboratory tests, such as an ultrasound or CT scan to obtain a picture of your kidneys and urinary tract. In this way, a complete evaluation helps to confirm or rule out CKD.
Tests like uACR and eGFR can minimize the burden on patients and healthcare facilities, as well as support more seamless screening and sustained care. Apart from that, these tests offer reliable results in a more convenient way and can also be used as a screening tool for risk stratification and early detection. Such tests can also help doctors select and tailor treatment for an individual patient, providing some degree of personalized treatment.
The increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease in India affects not only patients, but also the entire healthcare system. The prevalence of CKD in the country is an increasing burden for health care that must be addressed by raising awareness and promoting detection to allow its identification or diagnosis at an early stage. The good news is that when CKD is detected early and treated correctly, the outlook for CKD patients can be very promising.
(Entries: IANS)
Published Date: May 11, 2023 3:22 PM IST
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