- Appeal to all: let’s check ourselves. It is enough to do a general urine test, check the concentration of creatinine, and calculate eGFR. Let’s also do an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, measure blood pressure. We have drugs that can give patients 30 percent. life, says Prof. Beata Naumnik, Head of the 1st Department of Nephrology and Transplantology of the Dialysis Center of the Białystok Medical University, presented the Medical Management award during the SHEO 2023 gala concert.
Katarzyna Pinkos, Wprost: Chronic kidney disease is said to be a “time bomb”. Is it true that this disease kills more often than cancer?
prof. Beata Naumnik: This is true; Patients due to chronic kidney disease, or rather its complications, die more often than due to cancer of any kind. These numbers may be daunting, but there are almost a billion people in the world with chronic kidney disease. There are about 4,700,000 people in Poland. sick. These are estimates, but underestimated, there may be even more patients.
Why does the patient die of chronic kidney disease? This is a disease that destroys the entire body. When the kidneys get sick, the whole body gets sick because the kidneys are its detoxification factory. With kidney failure, endotoxemia occurs, self-intoxication of the body
You cannot live without the kidneys, they are such an important organ. It regulates the entire metabolism, is also a powerful endocrine organ, produces a number of hormones and detoxifies: all metabolic products are excreted through the kidneys.
If the kidneys are sick, will the heart also hurt?
The whole body: heart, eyes, brain, intestines, joints, bones… There is no organ that would not fall ill in the event of endotoxemia, i.e. poisoning.
What can be done to avoid getting sick?
Appeal to all: let’s understand. The analyzes are very simple: you need to do a general urine test, check the concentration of creatinine; from here we calculate eGFR, i.e. Glomerular filtration. Let’s also do an abdominal ultrasound, at least once, to see if we don’t have to repeat this examination every year. Let’s take your blood pressure. Let’s lower our sugar levels because diabetes is the most common cause of end stage kidney disease.
What can be done if the results are not good? Are there drugs that will stop the progression of the disease?
We have drugs that can give patients 30 percent. the number of lives that would have been lost if the patient had not been treated. They will also heal the heart and may also prevent the development of diabetes.
Are these drugs available in Poland?
They are available and reimbursed - for nephrological, cardiological and diabetic indications, so if the patient has concomitant diseases, he can receive a compensated drug.
Until recently, little was said about the kidneys, much more often they talked about the heart, diabetes. Few people know about kidney disease. Why?
This is a mistake: kidney disease has not worsened these days. The epidemic of these diseases is noticeable by the fact that we have a lot of obesity complications: diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia - kidneys suffer from all this. CKN is a consequence of this. It is also worth talking about chronic kidney disease, because we have something to treat patients.
If we only shouted about the disease and there was nothing to treat it, then, of course, awareness would increase, but there would be no sense in it. The benefits are clear because we have fantastic drugs that can prolong the lives of patients and, in some of them, stop the progression of chronic kidney disease. Thanks to these drugs, we can extend the period before dialysis in patients with already damaged kidneys. And this is priceless time.
You are the voice of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease, for whom incl. you received the 2023 WEO Award in the Medical Authority category. What made you talk about kidneys?
I am a nephrologist, so I talk about the kidneys to educate the public. I’m here on behalf of my entire team; I am not alone, I am surrounded by people who do amazing work every day, care about patients, are absolutely devoted to them. I am also the voice of patients; with me the National Association of Kidney Mozher (OSMN); Ms. Dorota Ligenza, vice-president of the association, attended the gala concert and debates, the president is prof. Raymond Michalsky. These are the people who should be supported with subject knowledge. Patient education is very important and the patient can offer the maximum to the patient. A powerful educational force lies in patients who have experienced a lot on themselves and have practical experience associated with the disease.
There are women leaders at the SEO gala. What would be your most important message to women?
Let’s explore! We, women, mothers, daughters, often take care of our family and loved ones, but forget about ourselves. This is a mistake, a healthy mom is a smiling mom and an energetic mom, so you should take care of yourself. The tests are simple, they can be done, for example, on Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, or … go for tests with your husband.
Source: Wprost
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