Chronic Kidney Disease on Rise in India

Kidney diseases are rapidly increasing globally and reaching epidemic proportions. In India, there is a significant burden of kidney disease, chronic kidney disease (CKD) in particular.

In the absence of a renal registry in India, the real extent of CKD is unknown, but with rising prevalence of diabetes and hypertension in the country, the prevalence of CKD is expected to increase. To understand the geographic distribution and impact of chronic kidney disease, Curofy, an online platform where doctors discuss cases analyzed the discussions around CKD.

‘The causative factors for CKD in India are essentially the same as that in the developed nations. Diabetes and hypertension remain the major causes of renal failure.’

They found that over the course of the year, 1180 cases of CKD were discussed and out of these, 42 percent cases were from tier 3 cities. 28 percent cases were from tier 2 cities, whereas 30 percent cases were from tier 1 cities. This can be attributed to the fact that 70 percent of our population lives in rural areas and have limited access to health care facilities.

This results in the delayed diagnosis of kidney disease. Talking about the causative factors that lead to CKD, Dr Raman Tanwar, Consultant Urologist, W Pratiksha hospital, Gurgaon said, "It is interesting to note that causative factors for CKD in India are essentially the same as that in the developed nations. Diabetes and hypertension remain the major causes of renal failure. These diseases are preventable and controllable hence it's quite easy to reduce the population of kidney patients in the country by timely and regular treatment."

Treatment of advanced CKD or end-stage renal disease is substantially expensive with most cases requiring transplant and dialysis. Hence, it is imperative to identify high-risk characteristics which can be modified. "Incidence of CKD stage 3 has been reported to be as high as 6percent in some parts of the country," noted Dr Raman, adding "This is alarming and puts a huge load on the healthcare system. Dialysis and renal replacement therapy are the options but they are not able to sustain the patient for long and organ transplantation is the best answer. Unfortunately, there is a severe lack of donors and only one in thirty renal failure patients are able to receive a kidney. Around one and a half lac patients are waiting for a donor." Commenting on the result, Mudit Vijayvergiya, co-founder Curofy said, "In a country where a major chunk of the population has no access to healthcare we need to work towards prevention of a disease. This can only be done by identifying high risk demographic."

Source: ANI