The World Kidney Day is observed every year in March to increase awareness of kidney diseases.
The theme for this year’s World Kidney Day is “Donate- Kidneys for Life – Receive.” Kidney transplantation has become a successful procedure enabling more and more people to live a normal life without the need for dialysis. The theme highlights the positive outcomes of kidney transplantation and the life-saving aspect of kidney donation. The overall results of kidney transplantation has improved because of better immunosuppressive drugs and cutting edge research in this area and better understanding of rejection of the transplanted kidney. Though the quality of life of a patient who has had a transplant is much superior to the one on dialysis transplants are far and few. This has been mainly due to the shortage of organs and the ever increasing wait- list for a transplant.
The incidence of end-stage kidney disease in India is estimated to be 150 to 175 per million population per year (or between 150,000 and 175,000 cases). Against this we are doing 3,500 kidney transplants in year. In USA there are 72,500 patients waiting for a kidney transplant but last year only 28,535 transplants were done. To take care of the kidney disease burden, we need to have a two pronged approach - on one side we need to work towards prevention of kidney disease and on the other towards generating more organ donors. In India, with a very high rate of fatal head injuries due to road accidents, the pool of potential organ donors is over 100,000. This pool could easily take care of organ shortage not only for India but also for other countries. This requires better planning, strengthening our trauma services and better tertiary care hospital in smaller towns of the country that can perform transplant surgery.
The World Kidney Day also aims to create awareness among people to maintain their kidney health so that they do not reach a point where they need dialysis or transplantation. Common conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure can cause kidney damage; a lot of people may be unaware of this fact. In the early stages, kidney damage may go unnoticed in the absence of any symptoms. Diagnosis may be possible only on preventive check-ups and blood and urine tests. Simple tests such as getting the blood pressure checked and checking the urine for protein leak can be the first step in prevention of kidney disease.
Quiz on Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.
Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.
![About Transplantation]( "About Transplantation")
kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals-such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium-in your blood ().
Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.
Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.
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About Transplantation
Since the early times, the novel idea of transplanting tissues and other body parts from one organism to the other has captured the imagination of successive generations.
Since the early times, the novel idea of transplanting tissues and other body parts from one organism to the other has captured the imagination of successive generations.
Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.
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- Control your blood pressure
- Make red blood cells
- Keep your bones strong and healthy
Kidney patients can also participate in making the day successful by sharing their experiences with others through the internet or other social media. And if you are neither a patient nor a health care professional, you can still make a difference by organizing or participating in various awareness events in your city.
Source-Medindia
