ADHB creates awareness about kidney health on World Kidney Day
Every year World Kidney Day acts as a rallying cry for kidney teams around the globe to stand together with the patients they care for in an attempt to raise awareness of Kidney Disease in the communities they serve.
The Auckland District Health Board Renal service team marked the 2018 World Kidney Day, celebrated on March 8, by organising information and screening stand at Auckland City Hospital Atrium.
The idea was to raise awareness about the chronic kidney disease with Kidney Health New Zealand to the hospital’s staff, patients and visitors.
The team circulated pamphlets and offered free basic kidney health screening to everyone who visited the information booth. During the event the doctors screened more than 200 people and as expected almost 10 per cent of them had either high blood pressure or high blood sugar levels.
Some of the visitors at the booth who underwent screening also showed traceable albumin in their urine sample.
Kidney health check-up is an essential task that one should get done on a regular basis.
“I would say it was a successful event, thanks to the ADHB renal service staff, our kidney specialist doctor and Kidney Health New Zealand representative from Christchurch,” Renal Physiologist, Rajeev Kumar from ADHB said.
It is estimated that 1 in 10 people around the globe have Chronic Kidney Disease,- which means it is a form of Kidney Disease that is permanent or lifelong. Around 400,000 New Zealanders are living with some form of Chronic Kidney Disease in the country, and very few are aware of it.
Those at greatest risk include people over the age of 60, people with high blood pressure, having heart disease, smokers, having a family history of kidney disease, are overweight etc.
“Kidney Health New Zealand recommends that if you have any of the above, you should ask your GP for a kidney health check, and this includes a blood pressure check, urine check for albuminuria and a blood test,” Carmel Gregan-Ford, National Education Manager for Kidney health New Zealand told The Indian Weekender.
“If you have any further questions, please call 0800 KIDNEY (543639),” Carmel added.
This year World Kidney Day coincided with International Women's Day that gave Kidney Health NZ the opportunity to highlight the importance of kidney health amongst women.
Chronic Kidney Disease is slightly more likely to develop in women compared to men, with almost 200 million women affected globally.
Women who have Chronic Kidney Disease during pregnancy are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes for both mum and baby.
Kidney disease is often described as the ‘silent killer’ the reason being until the kidney disease is very advanced it will not exhibit any symptoms.
It is not uncommon that the first time an individual finds about his kidney problem via a blood test to be an incidental finding. Individuals’ kidney function can fall from 100 per cent to less than 30 per cent with no symptoms and sometimes as low as 15% before symptoms even start.
Every year World Kidney Day acts as a rallying cry for kidney teams around the globe to stand together with the patients they care for in an attempt to raise awareness of Kidney Disease in the communities they serve.
The Auckland District Health Board Renal service team marked the 2018 World Kidney...
Every year World Kidney Day acts as a rallying cry for kidney teams around the globe to stand together with the patients they care for in an attempt to raise awareness of Kidney Disease in the communities they serve.
The Auckland District Health Board Renal service team marked the 2018 World Kidney Day, celebrated on March 8, by organising information and screening stand at Auckland City Hospital Atrium.
The idea was to raise awareness about the chronic kidney disease with Kidney Health New Zealand to the hospital’s staff, patients and visitors.
The team circulated pamphlets and offered free basic kidney health screening to everyone who visited the information booth. During the event the doctors screened more than 200 people and as expected almost 10 per cent of them had either high blood pressure or high blood sugar levels.
Some of the visitors at the booth who underwent screening also showed traceable albumin in their urine sample.
Kidney health check-up is an essential task that one should get done on a regular basis.
“I would say it was a successful event, thanks to the ADHB renal service staff, our kidney specialist doctor and Kidney Health New Zealand representative from Christchurch,” Renal Physiologist, Rajeev Kumar from ADHB said.
It is estimated that 1 in 10 people around the globe have Chronic Kidney Disease,- which means it is a form of Kidney Disease that is permanent or lifelong. Around 400,000 New Zealanders are living with some form of Chronic Kidney Disease in the country, and very few are aware of it.
Those at greatest risk include people over the age of 60, people with high blood pressure, having heart disease, smokers, having a family history of kidney disease, are overweight etc.
“Kidney Health New Zealand recommends that if you have any of the above, you should ask your GP for a kidney health check, and this includes a blood pressure check, urine check for albuminuria and a blood test,” Carmel Gregan-Ford, National Education Manager for Kidney health New Zealand told The Indian Weekender.
“If you have any further questions, please call 0800 KIDNEY (543639),” Carmel added.
This year World Kidney Day coincided with International Women's Day that gave Kidney Health NZ the opportunity to highlight the importance of kidney health amongst women.
Chronic Kidney Disease is slightly more likely to develop in women compared to men, with almost 200 million women affected globally.
Women who have Chronic Kidney Disease during pregnancy are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes for both mum and baby.
Kidney disease is often described as the ‘silent killer’ the reason being until the kidney disease is very advanced it will not exhibit any symptoms.
It is not uncommon that the first time an individual finds about his kidney problem via a blood test to be an incidental finding. Individuals’ kidney function can fall from 100 per cent to less than 30 per cent with no symptoms and sometimes as low as 15% before symptoms even start.
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