BAGUIO CITY – Experts from the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) warned that causes of kidney ailments have shifted to the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases resulting to the increasing number of patients seeking dialysis treatment from the government facility.
Dr. Jennifer Pira, medical officer of the Cordillera office of the Department of Health (DOH-CAR), said for the first quarter of this year, 96 individuals were treated with kidney ailment triggered by hypertensive nephrosclerosis while some 87 cases were diabetic nephropathy which showed that more hypertension and diabetes patients are now prone to acquiring kidney ailment.
Last year, the BGHMC recorded some 105 individuals who acquired kidney ailment due to hypertensive nephrosclerosis and 83 diabetic nephropathy patients were also treated for kidney ailments.
Dr. Virginia Mangati, medical officer and BGHMC dialysis center head, claimed that since the establishment of the dialysis center in 2014, there has been a 15 percent annual increase in kidney patients seeking dialysis treatment in the said hospital and the total number of dialysis patients has grown to 1,500 to date.
She admitted there has been a significant increase in adult kidney patients who are suffering from hypertension or diabetes, both lifestyle-related illnesses.
On per part, Dr. Amelita M. Pangilinan, officer-in-charge of the DOH-CAR, said the ultimate solution in addressing the lifestyle-related diseases is for people to go back to the basics of drinking sufficient volume of water, eating the right kind of food, having regular exercise, among others, to prevent life-threatening ailments like kidney diseases to develop.
City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo disclosed that kidney ailment is one of the top causes of death among people in the country which warrants individuals to reflect on their way of life for them to institute the appropriate drastic measures to change their lifestyles and prevent them from acquiring life-threatening ailments.
The health officer asserted the local government remains aggressive in informing and educating the residents on how to prevent acquiring life-threatening ailments so that they will remain healthy and will be able to contribute in charting the overall growth and development of the city.
Dr. Zoraida C. Clavio, renal disease control program coordinator of the City Health Services Office, admitted that from the pupils who were earlier targeted for pre-confirmatory tests for possible kidney ailment, the program shifted to people suffering from hypertension and diabetes because of the increasing number of patients who are suffering from kidney failure are triggered by alleged lifestyle related diseases.
Since 1994, the local health department subjected some 24,000 schoolchildren to the required screening test to ascertain their being prone to kidney ailment to facilitate the conduct of further tests that will be conclusive such as urinalysis, urine culture, workups among, other scientific ways of doing so.
By Dexter A. See
