Media Release May 01 2008

Kidney Disease - No Warning Signs

Imagine your body is like the house you live in. Everyday at home, your family creates rubbish. The rubbish builds up over a week until it is put out for the weekly garbage collection.

Now, say you put three bags of garbage out, but because one of the collectors was away sick, only two bags are collected.

You take the leftover bag inside to be put out again next week.

The following week you put out another three bags, plus the leftover bag from last week. But again, only two bags are collected.

Imagine this cycle is repeated over the following weeks. Uncollected bags remain in the house and before long the house is unbearable to live in.

Eventually disease breaks out and everyone gets sick.

This is a simple description of what happens to your body when your kidneys don’t work efficiently. Your body is not thoroughly emptied of waste products. Other areas of the body such as blood pressure and red blood cell production are affected and the insidious process that may lead to kidney failure begins.

But, unlike household rubbish, where the negative effects are almost immediate, kidney failure can go unnoticed for some time. It’s not uncommon for people to lose up to 90% of their kidney function before developing any symptoms.

There may be no warning signs. This makes early detection difficult but, at the same time, vital if damaged is to be limited.

“Kidneys are approximately the size of two fists”, explains Kirsty Musgrave, Renal Clinical Nurse Consultant at Royal North Shore Hospital.

“They are located deep in the abdominal area, beneath our rib cage. Their main job is to remove toxins and excess water from our blood.

“Every day our kidneys filter an average of 200 litres of blood – a quantity that would fill 20 buckets!” says Kirsty.

“Besides this impressive, daily feat, kidneys also help control our blood pressure, produce red blood cells and keep our bones healthy.”

Kidney failure may be a gradual and silent process, going unnoticed because there is no apparent pain.

Research shows that more than 25% of all patients found to require haemodialysis and transplantation do not see a kidney specialist until less than 90 days before dialysis starts.

Haemodialysis is a complex medical process that removes waste from the body by circulating the blood through a dialysis machine. Lanceley Cottage at RNSH looks after many dialysis patients on the North Shore. Treatment (usually three times per week) is time consuming, painful and imposes limits and conditions on work, play and travel.

“Unfortunately, as many as 2.3 million Australians may be affected by early-stage kidney disease and not even know it,” says Kirsty.

Some risks factors for kidney disease such as age and genetic makeup are out of our control, however, some changes in lifestyle may help prevent kidney damage.

Two major risk factors for kidney disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, have been steadily on the rise over the last few decades. Both conditions are substantially affected by overweight and low activity.

More than three million people are at risk of kidney disease due to diseases made worse by poor lifestyle.

You can reduce your risk of kidney disease by
• Being a non-smoker
• Controlling your blood pressure
• Staying fit
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Reducing stress
• Moderating alcohol consumption
• Controlling your blood glucose if you have diabetes

Try this quick quiz to assess your risk of kidney disease.
Tick if you:
?? Are diabetic
?? Have high blood pressure
?? Have a family history of kidney disease
?? Are over 50
?? Are a smoker
?? Are of Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander descent

If you answered YES to one or more of the above then you are at risk of kidney disease

What should you do?
Visit your local doctor TODAY and ask for a Kidney Performance test.
The test can include a:
Blood pressure test
Blood test
Urine test
Lifestyle assessment guidelines

Performance-test your kidneys today and stay well.

Media Contact: Kristen Bunyard 9926 7199 or 0413 025 742

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