KARACHI, Aug 22: Based on its recent research, a team of nephrologists has expressed the apprehension that about 21 million people in the country are ignorant of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) they are suffering from.
Unfolding details of a nationwide survey aimed at figuring the CKD prevalence in the country, team leaders Dr Waqar H. Kazmi and Dr Samina Khan told the newsmen at a press conference on Wednesday that the relevant figures were alarming.
“The rate of people suffering from CKD is almost three times higher here than in the west and as such both the government and the community should ensure frequent awareness campaigns, enabling the people to know about the disease and move for timely medical interventions,” they said, adding that an early detection of the disease could help slow down its progression.
Dr Kazmi is head of the nephrology department of the Dow University of Health Sciences and Dr Khan is a Pakistani holding a faculty position in the nephrology department of the Tufts University, Boston. His two papers pertaining to the research have been accepted for consideration at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nephrology, the newsmen were told.
The CKD is a global phenomena and its prevalence is rising. The disease is divided into five stages of severity.
According to experts, almost all patients who develop stage 3 and 4 progress to stage 5, where some replacement treatment for kidneys such as dialysis or kidney transplant, which is highly unaffordable in the developing countries, is needed.According to Dr Kazmi, as many as 1,000 samples were received over 18 years from urban and rural populations at various camps in the four provinces for the completion of a questionnaire, an exercise carried out for the first time in the country. People tested for the survey did not include those already known for suffering from kidney disease, he said, adding that the results were surprising and higher than the expected prevalence of CKD in Pakistan.
Highlighting the survey data, Dr Khan said that Punjab, the most affluent of the provinces, had the highest percentage of CKD, ie 19, than Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP.
She said Punjab also had a much higher proportion of patients with diabetes (22 per cent) and hypertension (41 per cent), seen as a major reason for the CKD.
Women of Punjab, whose weight on an average was found the highest (66kg) in the survey in comparison to women from the other provinces, outnumbered the males for the prevalence of the combined CDK stages 3 and 4. The prevalence of the stage 3 and 4 CKD, according to the survey results, was 6 per cent in the case of males and 13 per cent in females in Punjab.
The overall combined prevalence of CDK was 14 per cent in the country. The prevalence of the combined CKD 3 and 4 was 7 per cent in Sindh, 12 per cent in the NWFP and 12 per cent in Balochistan. Using the total population of Pakistan based on the Economic Survey 2005-06, nearly 21 million people in Pakistan have either stage 3 or 4 CKD, Dr Khan remarked.
Talking about the future research plan, Dr Kazmi and Dr Khan said they intended to repeat the survey again on some more elaborate line to look into the number of incidences per year and to assess the dietary phenomena and level of cholesterol in the survey population.
The researchers further said that CKD contributed to serious heart diseases in over 12 million individuals worldwide each year. Diabetes, which is considered by experts as a silent killer, played a considerable role in damage to kidneys, they said, adding that Pakistan was the sixth among the countries where diabetes prevalence was critically high.
In all, a team of seven physicians established CKD camps during March and April this year, with the support of a pharmaceutical company, and invited the public to attend the survey camps.
