percent of the Dominican population suffers from chronic kidney disease, the main causes being hypertension and diabetes, revealed nephrologist Ronald Valdez, coordinator of the Cedimat Nephrology Unit.
He recalled that both hypertension and diabetes are two conditions that are very present in the population, it is estimated that around 30% of Dominicans suffer from hypertension and about 15% from diabetes, which shows the high risk of suffering from disease. chronic kidney.
“These are alarming figures because if we have 11 million inhabitants here and we say that almost 10 percent suffer from chronic kidney disease, we are talking about one million patients,” he said.
The most worrying thing, added the specialist, is that it is a silent disease, which does not cause symptoms, so prevention plays a fundamental role, with early diagnosis and timely treatment, which is why preventive medical check-ups are important. .
He said that the Dominican Republic has statistics similar to the world averages in relation to chronic kidney disease, and that they are increasing, just as is the case with other non-communicable diseases.
anti-inflammatories and antibiotics
The reasons for these increases are that the causes of chronic kidney disease are many, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, self-medication, especially anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, which people use indiscriminately.
He said that this disease can affect populations equally regardless of their socioeconomic status.
He explains that detecting suspicion of kidney disease is achieved with a simple blood test where the levels of creatinine and urea are measured and another urine test to see the levels of albumin, which is a protein, which are routine tests.
filtration and albumin
He said that it should be emphasized that the most important thing is not only the real value of creatinine, but also taking into account the filtration rate of the amount of blood filtered by the kidney per minute, which can even be obtained through cell phones. intelligent. “If it drops below 60 milliliters of blood per minute, we are already talking about chronic kidney disease for a period of more than three months,” he said.
Ronald Valdez, Cedimat nephrologist.
As preventive measures, the specialist highlighted the importance of reducing salt consumption and maintaining adequate hydration.
Incidence
Protein
Valdez recalled that albumin is a very important protein in the body and when it is positive in a urine test it should attract attention; when it is low it can cause fluid retention in the feet. A warning sign of kidney disease, Valdez pointed out that there are patients who indicate that when they urinate they see a type of foam in the toilet, which could be indicative of protein in the urine.
He said that “kidney pain” is the most common cause of consultations with the nephrologist, which can occur when there are stones or lithiasis, but that the pain is not specifically in the kidneys but when it obstructs the ureters, which allow urine to reach the kidneys. kidney to the bladder.
