MSN: Obesity a key factor for chronic kidney disease
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians who do not want to suffer from Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) should avoid becoming obese as it contributes to the deadly disease.
Malaysian Society of Nephrology (MSN) vice-president Dr Sunita Bavanandan said it has been estimated that 600 million people in the world are affected by obesity including 220 million schoolchildren.
In Malaysia, she added the 2015 National Health and Morbidity survey revealed that 17.7% of the population were obese and a further 30% overweight.
"More than 7% of children in Malaysia under the age of five years are overweight," she told theSun during a recent interview.
She said the focus for 2017 World Kidney Day will be on obesity and kidney disease.
Dr Sunita, a consultant nephrologist at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, said obesity indirectly contributes to kidney disease with the increased risk of getting diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
"Obesity can have a direct impact on the development of CKD, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the risk of getting kidney stones and kidney cancer," she said.
On the rising cases of ESRD with patients requiring dialysis, Dr Sunita said contributing factors, among others, were old age, diabetes and hypertension.
In Malaysia, she said, patients with ESRD requiring dialysis has grown from 3,167 in 2005 to 7,055 in 2014 according to the 2015 Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry report.
"A recent local study accepted for publication has projected future estimated incidences of new dialysis patients in 2020 and 2040 to be 10,208 and 19,418 cases, respectively, while the estimated prevalence was 51,269 and 106,249 cases," she said, adding there is no cure for kidney disease – its either dialysis or kidney transplant.
Although stem cell therapy may unlock cures for kidney disease, it is still very much at a research stage, she disclosed.
Dr Sunita advised the public to adopt this year's theme, "Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Kidneys" as a preventive measure against kidney disease.
For more details and about the 2017 World Kidney Day and activities, contact the NKF hotline at 1300-88-3110 or email at edu@nkf.org.my. You could log on to www.nkf.org.my, www.msn.org.my or www.worldkidneyday.org for further details.