Diabetic kidney disease: Prevention is better than cure

World Kidney Day is a global campaign aimed at increasing awareness of kidney health amongst the general public.

- DR SANJEEV GULATI

World Kidney Day is a global campaign aimed at increasing awareness of kidney health amongst the general public. This year, it is being celebrated on 13th March. The theme for 2025 is "Are Your Kidneys OK? Detect Early, Protect Kidney Health."

The prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is increasing. Initially, it was believed that 15-20 out of every 100 people have some stage of CKD. Preliminary results are now available from an ongoing nationwide study for early detection of CKD conducted by the Indian Society of Nephrology leadership. This study was conducted in collaboration with 1,100 physicians across the country. So far, 50,000 persons have been screened across India, and of these, 59.1% had diabetes. The study reveals that 31.3% of the population screened had microalbuminuria, which is one of the earliest indicators of chronic kidney disease. This is significantly higher than the prevalence of CKD reported in earlier studies.

Data reveals that CKD is now emerging as the 5th leading cause of death worldwide. Unlike heart disease and cancer, its prevalence is increasing. Kidney disease is a silent killer, and unlike heart disease and cancer, the symptoms often appear very late. Our study from SGPGI Lucknow in 1999 was among the earliest to show that diabetes (which was then considered a rich man's disease) was emerging as the most common cause of end-stage renal disease in our country. Subsequent data from the registry of the Indian Society of Nephrology has validated our findings that diabetes is now the leading cause of CKD. An alarming observation is that the majority of patients are coming to nephrologists in stage 4 and stage 5 CKD. Both CKD and diabetes are lifestyle diseases and are essentially preventable.