Patients With Kronis Kidney Diseases Increase Around The World, This Is The Cause

JAKARTA - chronic kidney disease (chronic Kidney Disease) is now becoming a global health crisis. Recent research shows the situation is much more serious than expected.

A global analysis published in The Lancet and led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) found chronic kidney disease is now the ninth cause of death in the world, killing nearly 1.5 million people by 2023.

Reporting from the Times of India page, this report is part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2023. This report also found that nearly 788 million adults (aged 20 years and over) are now living with chronic kidney disease, more than double compared to 1990.

This spike is not just a number of statistics, but a signal that there is a public health crisis that is developing quietly and affects rich and poor countries. More importantly, this disease mostly occurs in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia which includes having the highest prevalence in the world.

chronic kidney disease is not only about kidney failure, this disease is also closely related to other major health risks. Kidney function disorders are found to contribute to 11.5% of all deaths from heart disease. This makes kidney disease an important chronic factor that exacerbates the risk of heart disease.

Recent analyses using global health databases found chronic kidney disease to fall into the top 10 causes of death in 2023, responsible for about 1.48 million deaths worldwide and affecting nearly 800 million people with a decrease in kidney function.

Since 1990, the global burden of chronic kidney disease has more than doubled. At that time, about 378 million adults had this disease. Now the number has increased to 788 million. This means that more than 1 in 10 adults in the world may have kidney function disorders.

Some areas of the world are severely affected. North Africa and the Middle East have the highest prevalence, followed by South Asia, where nearly 16% of adults are thought to have chronic kidney disease.

In absolute numbers, densely populated countries such as China and India have the largest number of patients, around 152 million in China and 138 million in India living with chronic kidney disease.

The burden of chronic kidney disease has increased over the past three decades as the population is aging and metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity are becoming increasingly common. Health experts emphasize that this shows failure in early detection.

Many people with early chronic kidney disease have mild or no symptoms at all and access to examinations is still uneven in various countries. The three main factors that cause an increase in the disease include:

- Metabolic risk factors such as diabetes (high blood sugar), hypertension (high blood pressure), and high body mass index damage small kidney filters from time to time.

- Populations age. Kidney function decreases with age, so that countries with many parents have higher CKD numbers.

- Uneven treatment access. In areas with limited early examination and treatment, diseases develop undetected to advanced stages.

The kidneys are tasked with filtering waste, maintaining fluid balance, and helping control blood pressure. Early kidney damage often does not cause symptoms, so many people only know about problems when the disease is advanced and difficult to treat.

In addition to damage to the kidneys, chronic kidney disease also increases the risk of disease and other deaths, especially heart disease. Research shows kidney disorders contribute about 11.5% of deaths from cardiovascular disease.

Bad kidney function causes buildup of toxins, blood pressure to increase, and fluid retention that adds to the burden on the heart. This can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other complications.

Kidney disease is often silent at the early stages, but the following signs can be an important warning especially if you have diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, or a family history with kidney problems.

- Changes in urination. Frequency increases or decreases, especially at night. Urine foam (proteinuria) or blood is also an important sign.

- Swelling (edema). Swelling on the ankles, feet, hands, or around the eyes can be due to fluid retention, not just fatigue.

- Unusual fatigue or weakness. The buildup of poison causes fatigue easily and difficulty concentrating.

- Itching or dry skin, continuous nausea. Signs of body waste accumulate because the kidneys do not filter it.

- Shortness of breath or decrease in appetite. Further kidney disorders can affect breathing and digestion.

If you experience these symptoms, don't take it lightly. Check yourself with medical personnel for examination of the function of the kidney. Facing the increase in this disease, health experts called for some action immediately.

- Routine examination by checking kidney function such as the glomerlus (GFR) filtration rate and urine albumin can detect early disease when it is still easy to treat.

- Managing risk factors by controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, and diet can reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease.

- Public awareness campaign by educating the public is important so that chronic kidney disease is not considered just an ordinary kidney problem, but also a risk of heart health.