Online CPR Certification Blog

Did you know that you might be having a chronic disease and truly unaware of it? Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with most Canadians according to a newly released study that was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in May 2013.

The findings of the Canadian Medical Association Journal

The breakdown of the figures is that our of 12.5% of adults with chronic diseases, only 5% have been diagnosed, a common factor with previous studies done in the neighboring USA which revealed a record 10% of Americans with kidney diseases. Led by Paul Arora a research expert, the team identified chronic kidney disease as a risk factor for death and cardiovascular related morbidity. He further noted that the Canadian health care system spends a whopping $ 60,000 per patient in the treatment of Hemodialysis. Technically, the kidney’s function is to produce urine and as such it should not operate below 10 to 15%. If it does, it is no longer able to filter the blood and urine and this causes toxins and other excess fluids to accumulate in the body. Hemodialysis is therefore, a therapy that serves that purpose of filtering waste matter by removing the blood and filtering through a dialyzer or artificial kidney as some would call it.
The researchers came to these numbers by using blood and urine samples from 3.689 people of 18 to 79 ages concluding that a total 2.9 million Canadians had kidney ailment. Interestingly, most of the people diagnosed with the disease did not have hypertension, diabetes or other related factors that play out as symptoms.
While loss of sleep comes as the most salient indication, other symptoms include: loss of appetite, less urination owing to kidney malfunctions. As the researchers noted, people who are not at high risk do not conform to testing as a routine. Additionally, most people did not have diabetes or hypertension, which most certainly made them think they were doing great. Sadly, most of these people are diagnosed with the chronic diseases when it’s too late, commonly known as stage 4, where the kidney experiences irregular dysfunctions as noted by Brian Radbill.

What do the experts say?

As opposed to waiting for symptoms to start cropping up, it would be better to focus on the underlying problems at the present stage such as shedding a spotlight on individuals who are obese, those with high cholesterol disease or have a family history of chronic diseases and having them screened at an early stage. Actually, a simple blood test can be able to show the symptoms.
Early diagnosis can offer mitigation strategies and help one avoid a kidney transplant or even slow the spreading of the disease in future by using ACE inhibitors and so on. By and large, it can reduce the chances of having as many kidney transplants as was the case in 2009 where according to the U.S department of Health and Human Services, more than 16,000 Americans had one. Don’t just think you are feeling fine, go for that test.