On the occasion of World Kidney Day and International Women's Day that coincided on Thursday, nephrologists advised women to be more cautious about the overall health of their kidneys as they are more vulnerable to kidney-related ailments like Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in various stages of their life.
"Women have certain as well as added risks for chronic kidney disease (CKD) that men do not," Dr Prof (Dr) Himansu Sekhar Mahapatra, HoD Nephrology, RMl Hospital said. He attributed it to lack of awareness, limited access to healthcare and other underlying health conditions. They should undergo health screening early in life so as to avoid complications later, he said.
Various researches have shown that the risk for CKD is slightly greater in women than in men - 14 per cent women versus 12 per cent men. CKD is a worldwide public health problem with adverse outcomes of kidney failure and premature death. It affects approximately 19.5 crore women worldwide and is currently the 8th leading cause of death in women, with close to 6 lakh dying annually.
For women, early diagnosis is more important as it means avoiding or delaying other potential health issues including menstrual irregularities, sexual dysfunction, bone disease, depression and pregnancy complications.
Prof (Dr) Dipankar Bhowmik, Department of Nephrology, AIIMS,Delhi, explained that women with CKD have many more problems with pregnancy, causing increased risk to the mother and the child. Even women without CKD may be at risk during both pregnancy and birth because of pre-eclampsia and other problems that results into hypertension and put a strain on the kidneys. Hence, prenatal care is crucial for all pregnant women.
According to doctors, diabetes, obesity and hypertension are risk factors contributing to CKD which is predicted to increase by 17 per cent over the next decade.
Dr Sandeep Mahajan, Prof of Nephrology, AIIMS, Delhi, said that women should not ignore certain diseases such as Urinary tract infections (UTIs). If it is not treated early, the germs can travel up to the kidneys and cause a worse type of infection, called pyelonephritis.
Also, there is threat of diseases like lupus Nephropathy (inflammation of the kidney that is caused by systemic lupus erythematous (SlE)), an autoimmune disease. With lupus, the body's immune system targets its own body tissues. lupus nephritis (when lupus involves the kidneys) and Chronic Pyleonephritis (chronic pyelonephritis is characterised by renal inflammation and fibrosis induced by recurrent or persistent renal infection, vesicoureteral reflux, or other causes of urinary tract obstruction) are unique to women, he added.
Doctors noted that while dialysis and transplant are the end treatment, women have remained deprived lot from these treatment because of the lack of awareness, social reasons, psycho-socio economic barriers and lack of medical facilities in rural areas.