World Kidney Day 2019

World Kidney Day 2019 was observed all over the world on 14^th of March, (2^nd Thursday in March).

The World Kidney Day theme 2019 was “Kidney Health for Everyone, Everywhere”.

The day was observed across the world with an aim to spread awareness for keeping kidneys healthy and away from diseases.

Various processions and campaign marches were flagged off on the day to make people aware about the importance of kidneys in human bodies, keeping kidneys safe and healthy and fighting the kidney related diseases.

Aga Khan Hospitals across the world hosted a free kidney screening on World Kidney Day. People came for the free screening of their kidneys and got the valuable feedback from the healthcare specialists. The hospital also organized awareness drives on the occasion.

In Visakhapatnam, students from nursing colleges and schools along with doctors and professors organised a rally to observe the World Kidney Day. The rally aimed at spreading awareness on taking care of kidneys by consuming more water, taking balanced diet and following a healthy lifestyle.

World Kidney Day History

World Kidney Day is a global health campaign celebrated every year all across the world focusing the health and importance of the major body organ, kidneys to reduce the occurrence of kidney diseases as well as related health problems. It is commemorated worldwide on annual basis on the 2^nd Thursday of March. It was started celebrating in the year 2006 by the 66 countries which were increased to become 88 countries in just 2 years.

The celebration was initiated by the joint committee of “International Society of Nephrology and International Federation of Kidney Foundations”. It is commemorated every year by the health organizations on global basis to raise awareness among common people that most of the kidney diseases are preventable and curable. Health organizations organize this campaign at many places to spread messages about kidney diseases, complications and its prevention and cure all across the countries.

Why World Kidney Day is Celebrated / Objectives of World Kidney Day

World kidney day is celebrated all over the world on second of Thursday in the month of March in order to raise the public awareness about the kidneys importance and its contributions to the overall health. It is celebrated to make the common public aware about the diseases and problems of the kidneys in order to reduce the occurrence of kidney diseases as well as all the associated health problems of the kidneys. Some of the objectives of celebrating the world kidney day are mentioned below:

It is celebrated to highlight the kidney problems related to the common health disorders like diabetes, high blood pressure which may lead to the Chronic Kidney Diseases.
It is celebrated to encourage the common public through the systematic screening of all patients having problems like diabetes or hypertension.
It is celebrated to motivate and promote the common public for the better prevention by describing them all aspects of the prevention measures in order to get prevented from such kidney problems.
It is celebrated to instruct the medical professionals about all aspects of the kidneys as well as teaching them to play their key role in the detection and prevention of kidneys problems among the people of high risk populations.
It is celebrated to get together of all the medical professionals from the local and national health authorities in order to control the spread of Chronic Kidney Diseases.
It is celebrated to deal with the high risk problems as well as implement the new strategies by motivating all the governments’ authorities.
It is celebrated to encourage the people about the kidneys donation and transplantation as a best option of life saving for getting free from the kidney failure or other Chronic Kidney Diseases.
It is celebrated to encourage the people for the early detection and prevention methods of the kidney problems to reduce the future complications and deaths and disability from the chronic renal and cardiovascular failure.

How World Kidney Day is Celebrated

World Kidney Day is celebrated every year all across the world to gather millions of people at one place to raise the voice for the kidney health awareness. Variety of local, national or international level events are being organized for years by the kidney national associations, organizations, kidney health stakeholders, healthcare professionals, authorities and individuals to make a difference in the society for the kidney health.

Variety of physical activity events like walking, cycling, jogging, fitness, dancing and etc are organized to get together. Fact sheets and posters of the related event are distributed in the schools, community centers and other educational institutions, news publishing at the websites or web pages and promotion of the campaign motto through the blogs, forums, twitter or Facebook and other informational websites. Kidneys health related topics like importance of kidney, kidney diseases and problems, kidney transplantation and life-saving aspect of the kidney donation are discussed in the classrooms, job places or other public places.

At the big kidney health centers, students and researchers organize meetings to discuss their own research works, lecture on the chronic kidney diseases, prevention measures, renal transplants, dietary and treatment advice and etc. Public health announcements are takes place at various TV channels on both national and international level to make aware the common public about kidney donation, transplantation, early detection, prevention measures, treatment, lack of donor organs or use of deceased donor organs and so many topics.

National and international level kidney problems conferences are held to discuss about to get solution. Other topics which are discussed are kid’s renal diseases, chronic renal diseases of adults, peritoneal and hemodialysis, diet for the patients with renal diseases and etc. Free health checkups are organized such as screening of blood glucose level, creatinine level, urine test, blood pressure and etc by the courtesy of health minister for the general public.

How to Take Care of Your Kidneys

Before knowing the points of kidneys care, you must have to answer yourself of some questions like are you at risk, do you suffering from the high blood pressure, do you have diabetes, do you have an earlier family history of kidney disease, are you obese or overweight, do you have smoking habit, are you more than 50 years of age, are you belong of African, Aboriginal, Hispanic or Asian origin.

If your answers are yes to any of the question, you must meet your health practitioner or doctor to get the right solution as some early chronic kidney diseases never show any signs or symptoms. If you are really health conscious then meet your doctor to avoid any type of delay in the kidney failure as well as get the right treatment early at the right time. You would be surprised that a person with a simple kidney problem can lose up to 90% of his kidney functions without experiencing any signs or symptoms.

Follow the following 8 Golden Rules for Better Kidney Prevention

Any of the kidney disease attacks like a silent killer and affect the quality of life. Below are mentioned some easy steps to get prevented from the risk of developing kidney problems:

Help your kidneys by keeping yourself fit and active as exercises helps in reducing blood pressure and thus reduces the risk of developing Chronic Kidney Disease. This event celebration motivates people for daily walking, running and cycling exercises.
Help your kidneys by maintaining and controlling the normal the blood sugar level as high blood sugar level lead to the diabetes and thus kidney damage. This event celebration motivates people with diabetes to get regular medications, tests and check up of their kidney functions.
Make your kidneys healthy by regular monitoring of your blood pressure as high blood pressure lead to the heart attack or stroke thus causes kidney damage. The normal blood pressure level of any person is 120/80. This event celebration encourages people to adopt healthy lifestyle and dietary changes, discuss their problems with doctor, monitor blood pressure on regular basis and etc.
Keep your kidneys healthy by eating healthy and maintaining normal weight as overweight and unhealthy eating habit lead to the diabetes, heart diseases and many other problems lead to the Chronic Kidney Disease. This event celebration motivates people about the dietary habits and weight control measures like reducing the salt intake (5-6 grams or 1 tsf of salt a day), limit the intake of processed or restaurant foods, daily physical exercises and etc.
Keep your kidneys healthy by maintaining the normal fluid intake on daily basis (at least 3 to 4 litres a day) as it helps the kidneys to filters out sodium, urea and other body toxins from body which may lead to the risk of developing chronic kidney diseases. World kidney day celebration on global basis encourages the people about proper fluid intake.
Keep your kidneys healthy and fit by avoiding smoking or getting in contact with other smoking person as it slows down the blood flow to the kidneys which lessens their ability to function well as well as enhances the risk of kidney cancer by 50%. This event celebration promotes the people to keep their kidneys healthy by demonstrating the loss through smoking.
Keep your kidneys healthy by avoiding the intake counter pills on regular basis as these are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) which may lead to the kidney damage and various diseases. Such medications may cause arthritis or back pain and put your kidneys at risk.
Keep your kidneys healthy by getting proper and regular check up of your kidney functions and developing of diabetes, hypertension, obese, family history of kidney disease and etc.

Symptoms of Kidney Problems

Most of the people never show symptoms until it gets advance however, some of the symptoms like swollen ankles and legs, fatigue, early tiredness, difficulty in concentration, low appetite, haematuria or occurrence of blood in urine, albuminoria or foamy urine or occurrence of albumin protein in urine and etc can be felt if noticed carefully. Some other symptoms of reduced kidney functions are:

Alteration in the amount of urine, appearance of urine and frequency of passing urine during night
Pain in abdomen in the kidney areas
Difficulty in sleeping
High blood pressure
Headache
Shortness of breath
Feeling of vomiting or vomiting
Bad breath

Early Detection of Kidney Diseases

Most of the people ignore their common problem that’s why they remain undiagnosed in the early stages of kidney problems. World kidney day celebration is a way to call everyone on stage at one place in order to get checked early if developing or having any risk of kidney disease. This event celebration brings people together and encourages them about the simple kidney function tests to get diagnosed of any risk factors which may lead to kidney problems.

Never let your kidney problems to destroy your precious kidney functions as it progresses very silently without any symptoms. The early detection of kidney problem is very necessary to get the suitable treatment to prevent your kidney damage, deterioration and complications. Through this event celebration, simple laboratory tests of kidney are carried out by taking small samples of blood in order to measure the values of creatinine, albumin excretion and estimate the GFR (glomerular filtration rate).

The availability of Serum Creatinine level in the blood, albumin in urine and blood sugar level measures the overall kidney health and its functions or Glomerular Filtration Rate. Creatinine, a waste product comes from the muscle activity, is generally getting removed from blood through the normal kidney functions, when its level rises in blood it denotes the slowness in kidney function. Normal GFR is 100 ml/min, but when it falls below 60 ml/min it indicates some serious kidney problems and immediate need to meet your kidney specialist. The presence of albumin in urine indicates the risk of GFR problem and premature heart attacks or strokes.

World Kidney Day Themes

World Kidney Day event was started celebrating in 2006 and has not stopped growing ever since. The every year campaign of celebration highlights a particular theme:

The theme of World Kidney Day 2006 was “Are your kidneys OK?”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2007 was “CKD: Common, harmful and treatable”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2008 was “Your amazing kidneys!”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2009 was “Protect your kidneys: Keep your pressure down”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2010 was “Protect your kidneys: Control diabetes”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2011 was “Protect your kidneys: Save your heart”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2012 was “Donate – Kidneys for Life – Receive”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2013 was “Kidneys for Life – Stop Kidney Attack!”
The theme of World Kidney Day 2014 was “Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and aging”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2015 was “Kidney Health for All”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2016 was “Kidney Disease & Children: Act Early to Prevent It”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2017 was “Kidney Disease & Obesity. Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Kidneys”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2018 was “Kidneys & Women’s Health: Include, Value, Empower”.
The theme of World Kidney Day 2018 is “Kidney Health for Everyone, Everywhere”.