ISLAMABAD  - The incidence of chronic kidney disease is rising in the country owing to late diagnosis, high volume of stone disease and rising trend of diabetes and high blood pressure in people.
According to health experts, blood pressure and diabetes must be controlled optimally to keep kidneys fit and the best way to prevent their failure is early diagnosis of underlying disease and aggressive treatment.
Diet, nutrition and lifestyle should be healthy throughout the life even if diabetes or blood pressure is under control, he said and added that toxic drugs and fake medicines had their own considerable share in kidney damage. Dr Wasim Khawaja from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), said that kidney diseases were diagnosed through history, examinations by qualified doctors and certain tests.
He said that many people knew nothing about the kidney disease until it was too late. Because of lack of awareness diagnosis gets delayed, he added. He observed that unlike many diseases, kidney disease often had no symptoms until it was very advanced.
He said to keep kidneys healthier for longer time, a very important step was to learn about the disease and also get kidneys tested on periodic basis. He recommended fluid intakes should be proper during the kidney disorder. The clues that can make people aware of kidney problems are generalized weakness, increasing paleness, aches and pain, vomiting, falling appetite, body swelling, breathing difficulties and blood in urine, he added.
He said the kidney disease also run in families. Dr Wasim Khawaja said that the kidney disease was usually a progressive disease, which means that the damage in the kidneys tends to be permanent. He added kidney diseases also made risks for heart diseases and stroke higher.
 A completely failed kidney no longer filters wastes properly to keep the body healthy, he said.
He said that the treatment of kidney failure was either hemodialysis or transplant, whereas dialysis offered an excellent short time cure. He advised that once the kidney damages, patients with blood pressure and diabetes should visit their doctor regularly. The dose of antibiotics should be adjusted according to the kidney function, he added.
He said many kidney diseases could be treated efficiently if diagnosed in time otherwise permanent kidney damage occurred, which could prove fatal for the patient.