Kidney failure rising by 10 to 15 pct per year; 23,000 undergoing dialysis in 2013

Close to 23,000 Filipinos underwent dialysis due to kidney failure in 2013, raising alarm at the Department of Health (DOH). To put that number into perspective, there were only around 4,000 cases of kidney failure in 2004, said Dr. Antonio Paraiso, DOH's manager for the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing.

Paraiso said this translates to "a 10 to 15 percent increase per year, and that's a big number."

In 2013 alone, Paraiso said at least 12,000 Filipinos developed kidney failure, requiring crucial transplants and/or, in the interim of undeteremined length, expensive dialysis.

Paraiso tied the rise in cases to an increase in diabetes and hypertension cases in the country. The third most common cause is glomeruloneprhtiris, a term used to refer to several renal diseases, "which used to be number one," he said.

The DOH blamed lifestyles - changing in unhealthy ways - for the shift in what's causing the most number of kidney problems. "Both diabetes and hypertension are lifestyle diseases," Paraiso said. "As our lives change, the illnesses we suffer also change with it."

To combat the kidney problems, Paraise called on the public to get examined by a competent doctor every year. He said lifestyle modification is also important to prevent not only kidney ailments but diabetes and hypertension as well.

source: interaksyon.com