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Medics have termed the spike in kidney disease as shocking, blaming the lifestyle

It emerged that one out of ten human beings have a kidney disease, even as another expert in Kisii County cautioned Kenyans to shun buying non-prescribed drugs from chemists linking this to kidney failure.

Dr Jonathan Wala (pictured), a nephrologist and President, Kenya Renal Association (KRA)  noted that kidney diseases kill more human beings and deaths from this illness have progressively risen up the ranks of deadly diseases from number 19 two decades ago, to number eight a decade later, and now to number five.

Infectious diseases

“The remedy to alleviate this is to identify kidney disease early or better still to prevent it from occurring in the first place,” Dr Wala said in a statement yesterday during celebrations to mark World Kidney day.

“We face new infectious diseases, while still dealing with conventional infections,” he noted, adding that the proportion of people living with kidney disease is at an all-time high.

In Kisii, Leonidah Nyaboke Momanyi a Nephrology Nurse at Oasis Specialist hospital cited that patients with sore throat, and who procure over the counter drugs to treat it, are at risk of complications to their kidneys.

Sore throat

She said the sore throat bacteria gets into the kidneys, punctures them, leading to the loss of proteins and blood cells through urine.

“Proteins, white and red blood cells are important for the body and when they are lost, it affects the body’s proper functioning” Nyaboke said at the facility during World kidney Day celebration.

The expert urged people with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity to undertake tests on their kidneys, saying the conditions could cause kidney failure if tests are not done to curb it.

She said that loss of blood through accidents, dehydration and diarrhoea were some of the risk factors which caused kidney diseases through loss of essential irons for proper functioning of the body.