Saturday, June 2, 2012

THE Renal Disease Control Program (Redcop) of the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday it recorded at least 10 percent increase in the number of new patients diagnosed with kidney disease every year.

Kidney disease, the 10th most common disease in the country, is mainly attributed to the sedentary lifestyle of an individual.

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Dr. Maria Theresa Lorenzo Bad-ang, spokesperson for the Redcop, speaking at Friday's Kapihan sa PIA, urged Dabawenyos to undergo urinalysis to find out whether they have kidney problems. He said the disease can be prevented if diagnosed early.

"Early prevention is early cure," she said.

She said that kidney disease has no overt manifestation or clinical symptoms, and thus patients would rather not seek any medical consultation from a nephrologist, a doctor specializing in renal diseases.

Through urinalysis, it will reveal abnormalities in the kidney.

Out of the 9,716 new cases in 2010, National Capital Region (NCR) comprised the most number of cases with a total of 34 percent, followed by Central Luzon with 12.5 percent, Northern Luzon with 11.7 percent, Davao Region with 5.9 percent, and Western Visayas with 5.6 percent.

The result for 2011 is to be submitted by July this year, according to Bad-ang.

In the country, the Philippine Society of Nephrology has around 300 doctors, nine of whom are based in Davao.

She said there were 389 recorded kidney donors last year, acquired through the Philippine Organ Donation Program (PODP). Of the total number, 150 were identified as relative donors, 149 were non-relative donors, and 90 from deceased donors.

Deceased donors are those patients who are "brain dead" or in the state of comatose, and are incapable of doing human activities.

"Kaysa naman mag-crash sila, ginakuha nalang namo ang mga organs nila (We'll get the organs, instead of waiting them die) and preserve them in the sterile environment," she said, adding that this procedure can be done with the consent of the donor's family.

She said the Organ Procurement Unit will be the one to identify if there's the availability of a deceased donor. Kidneys taken from these donors must be transplanted to its recipients within 48 hours.

Prior to the operation, a cross-matching and tissue typing must be conducted first to find out which among the kidneys donated match the recipient.

She said there were a total of 140 successful transplant last year from Davao Regional Hospital, Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), and Davao Doctors Hospital.

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on June 02, 2012.

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