Controlling diabetes and high blood pressure can prevent kidney disease

New Delhi: Sunday, 9 December 2012: Uncontrolled high blood pressure and diabetes are the 2 main cause of silent kidney damage said Padma Shri & Dr. B.C. Roy National Awardee,      Dr. KK Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India.

Presence of proteins in the urine, persistently high uric acid levels in the blood and a low estimated kidney filtration rate can be the early markers of kidney damage.

The cheapest screening test is to get the urine tested for presence of proteins or a blood Creatinine levels done. One can calculate the estimated kidney filtration by the following formula: (140 minus age multiplied by weight in kg) and divided by (72 multiplied by the serum craetinine level). The value will be O.85 times in women. Normal filtration is more than 100.

Patients with kidney disease may present with different clinical presentations. Some may present with blood in the urine, flank pain and others with edema and high blood pressure.

Many patients may remain asymptomatic and are detected on routine examination to have an elevated plasma craetinine concentration or an abnormal urinalysis.