Why is it important to know about kidney disease?
Dr Priyadarshi Ranjan
Rishi Thakur was absolutely asymptomatic and on cloud nine when he became the CEO of a software management company at the age of 28. He was too busy in his job until he felt fatigued one day and got his blood pressure checked. To his surprise, his BP was quite high. Further tests revealed that he had a very high level of serum creatinine — 7.4mg per cent. His world came crashing down. Rishi could not imagine the hell of living through dialysis. Determined to save his health, he opted for a kidney transplant and today he is recuperating well. All he needs to now take care of is his BP and undergo regular health checkups for his kidneys.

Beware of watering from the eyes
Dr R. Kumar
Prof Luthra, addicted to the internet and TV for the latest news, also writes a column on "Psychology for the masses". Lately, he is not comfortable with his eyes, which has affected his writing work and other after- retirement hobbies. He develops eye strain, redness, and watering from the eyes soon after he starts working on the computer or reading a book or a newspaper. Doctors have diagnosed that he is suffering from the "Dry eye" syndrome.

Health Notes
Pills made from red grapes’ skin can raise life expectancy
London: Drugs that could help people to live to 150 years by slowing the ageing process may soon be available on drugstores. The drugs are synthetic versions of resveratrol, an organic chemical found in red wine and believed to have an anti-ageing effect by boosting activity of a protein called SIRT1. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes. Pharmaceutical firm GSK is now testing the drugs on patients with Type II diabetes and psoriasis, a serious skin condition, The Telegraph reported. David Sinclair, professor of genetics at Harvard University, said ageing might not actually be an "irreversible affliction".

• Blood stored for more than 3 weeks may be harmful

• Aspirin may help lower risk of deadly skin cancer

Why is it important to know about kidney disease?
Dr Priyadarshi Ranjan

Rishi Thakur was absolutely asymptomatic and on cloud nine when he became the CEO of a software management company at the age of 28. He was too busy in his job until he felt fatigued one day and got his blood pressure checked. To his surprise, his BP was quite high. Further tests revealed that he had a very high level of serum creatinine — 7.4mg per cent. His world came crashing down. Rishi could not imagine the hell of living through dialysis. Determined to save his health, he opted for a kidney transplant and today he is recuperating well. All he needs to now take care of is his BP and undergo regular health checkups for his kidneys.

The kidney is a complicated and amazing organ that performs numerous essential biological roles. The main job of your kidneys is to remove toxins and excess water from the blood. Kidneys also help to control BP, produce red blood cells and keep our bones healthy. Roughly the size of your fist, a kidney is located deep in the abdomen, beneath the rib cage. Kidneys control blood stream levels of many minerals and molecules, including sodium and potassium, and help control blood acidity. Every day your kidneys carefully control the salt and water in your body so that your BP remains the same.

The prevalence of kidney disease is increasing dramatically and the cost of treating this growing epidemic represents an enormous burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Between 8 and 10 per cent of the adult population has some form of kidney damage, and every year millions die prematurely of complications related to chronic kidney diseases (CKD). In both developed and developing countries, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease are the most common causes of CKD, especially in the aging populations. The first consequence of undetected CKD is the risk of developing progressive loss of kidney function, eventually leading to kidney failure and thus the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. The second consequence is the high risk of premature death from associated cardiovascular disease.

Kidney disease can be detected early. Simple laboratory tests are done on small samples of blood (to measure creatinine content and estimate GFR) and on urine (to measure creatinine and albumin excretion). The majority of individuals with early stages of CKD go undiagnosed because there are few symptoms. The early detection of failing kidney function is crucial because it offers a window to start treatment before end-stage kidney damage or cardiovascular problems occur.

Screening is critical for those people considered to be at high risk:

Patients with diabetes and hypertension.
Individuals who are obese or smoke.
Individuals over 50 years of age.
Individuals with a family history of kidney disease, diabetes mellitus or hypertension.

The majority of individuals with early stages of CKD go undiagnosed. On World Kidney Day we are calling on everyone to check if they are at risk for kidney disease and encouraging more people to take a simple kidney function test.

Key preventive measures have been defined and proven successful in those with early stages of CKD as secondary prevention measures, which help slow disease progression and protect against both kidney and cardiovascular disease such as reduction of high blood pressure.

What can you do for your kidneys?

Keep fit and active
Keep regular control of your blood sugar level
Monitor your blood pressure
Eat healthy and keep your weight in check
Maintain a healthy fluid intake

Although clinical studies have not reached an agreement on the ideal quantity of water and other fluids for good health, traditional wisdom has long suggested drinking 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day. Consuming plenty of fluid helps the kidneys clear sodium, urea and toxins from the body which, in turn, results in a "significantly lower risk" of developing chronic kidney disease, according to researchers in Australia and Canada. The findings, the researchers said, do not advocate "aggressive fluid loading", which can cause side-effects, but they do provide evidence that moderately increased water intake, around 2 litres daily, may reduce the risk of decline in kidney functioning.

Do not smoke: Smoking also increases the risk of kidney cancer by about 50 per cent.

Do not take over-the-counter pills on a regular basis.

Get your kidney function checked if you have one or more of the “high risk” factors.

The writer is endourological, laparoscopic and kidney transplant surgeon, Fortis Hospital, Mohali.

Beware of watering from the eyes
Dr R. Kumar

Prof Luthra, addicted to the internet and TV for the latest news, also writes a column on "Psychology for the masses". Lately, he is not comfortable with his eyes, which has affected his writing work and other after- retirement hobbies. He develops eye strain, redness, and watering from the eyes soon after he starts working on the computer or reading a book or a newspaper. Doctors have diagnosed that he is suffering from the "Dry eye" syndrome. It does not make a sense to him, "if it is dry eye why the hell water keeps on flowing on my cheeks all the time? Even repeated splashing of water in the eyes does not give any relief from this so-called dry eye problem, instead, it worsens the condition. It has made my driving also restricted since watering occurs when I look ahead on the road. Constant eye strain and headache have made my life miserable", he rues.

What is dry eye?

In a normal eye there is a tear film in front of the cornea that lubricates, nourishes, and protects the eye from dust and other irritants. Spread by blinking (about every six seconds), it keeps the surface of the eye optically clear and smooth, and also protects from infection. This film has several layers of fluid — the lipid or oil layer, the watery layer, and mucus layer and is not like ordinary water in its composition. All three layers of tears are necessary for proper lubrication. Persons with the dry eye syndrome have tears that are mostly water and evaporate quickly, providing little protection for the eye. This can result in dry, irritated and uncomfortable eyes. This excess production of water from the lachrymal gland in dry eyes results in watery eyes. Other symptoms of dry eye may include eye strain, headache, blurred vision, itchy eyes, red or burning eyes.

What is watery eye?

Watery eye, also known as epiphora or tearing, is a condition in which there is a flow of tears onto the face either due to over-production of tears or blockage of the normal outlet channels. Though it can develop at any age, it is more common among babies aged less than 12 months due to congenital block in the duct, and adults over the age of 60 years due to dry eye. Nearly 5-6 per cent of infants have a blocked duct. The block can manifest with a sticky, watery eye with positive regurgitation on pressure over the lachrymal sac.

Common causes of watering are the following:

1. Dry eye (more than 50 per cent of all cases)

2. Allergies

3. Blocked tear ducts

4. Eye infections — blepharitis or conjunctivitis

5. Trichiasis — inward-growing eyelashes

6. Ectropion — when the lower eyelid turns outwards.

Other causes of excess tearing may be emotional stress, corneal disorders, lower eyelid looseness and weakness of facial muscles as the result of a stroke.

What to do in cases of watery eyes?

When watering is caused by dry eye, a variety of measures can be employed to alleviate the symptoms. Artificial tears in the form of eye drops are the most common treatment. A humidified environment also helps in dry eye treatment by adding moisture to the air and by helping prevent the evaporation of tears. Frequent blinking to spread tears is helpful, and avoiding smoke, wind, airconditioners, heaters and an irritating environment may provide relief.

If the excessive tearing results from an obstruction in the outlet, the treatment is to open the drainage channel. An obstruction of the naso-lacrimal duct is often treated by a surgical procedure called dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). During this procedure, the obstruction in the duct is bypassed with a balloon-tipped probe creating a new passage. A temporary tube is then left in place to keep the new passage from closing. Alternatively, bi-canalicular silicone intubation with tubes can be carried out with a claimed success rate of 88-95 per cent.

The writer is a senior eye specialist based in Chandigarh. Email: drrkumar16@gmail.com

Health Notes
Pills made from red grapes’ skin can raise life expectancy

London: Drugs that could help people to live to 150 years by slowing the ageing process may soon be available on drugstores. The drugs are synthetic versions of resveratrol, an organic chemical found in red wine and believed to have an anti-ageing effect by boosting activity of a protein called SIRT1. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes. Pharmaceutical firm GSK is now testing the drugs on patients with Type II diabetes and psoriasis, a serious skin condition, The Telegraph reported. David Sinclair, professor of genetics at Harvard University, said ageing might not actually be an "irreversible affliction". He explained that increasing SIRT1 activity improved how well our cells operated, making them less sluggish. Previous experiments have shown that mice, bees and flies given the SIRT1-boosting compounds lived longer. Writing in the journal Science, Prof Sinclair has claimed that they have performed experiments that showed these resveratrol-based compounds were having a direct effect on health. — ANI

Blood stored for more than 3 weeks may be harmful

Washington: A new study of hospital patients has found that transfusion of donated blood more than three weeks old results in impaired blood vessel function. Blood banks now consider six weeks to be the maximum permitted storage time of blood for use in transfusion, but recent studies have suggested transfusing blood stored for more than a few weeks has adverse effects in patients undergoing cardiac surgery or critical care. The new finding has suggested a mechanism explaining why older blood might be detrimental to patient health: a deficiency in nitric oxide, a short-lived chemical messenger that relaxes blood vessels. Cardiovascular research fellow Robert Neuman presented the results at the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Francisco. Senior authors include Arshed Quyyumi, professor of medicine and director of the Emory Clinical Cardiovascular Research Institute, and John Roback, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and medical director of the Emory University Hospital blood bank. — ANI

Aspirin may help lower risk of deadly skin cancer

Washington: Women who take aspirin have a reduced risk of developing melanoma — a deadly skin cancer — a new study has found. The longer they take it, the lower the risk they had, the study discovered. The findings suggest that aspirin's anti-inflammatory effects may help protect against this type of skin cancer. In the Women's Health Initiative, researchers observed US women aged 50 to 79 years for an average of 12 years and noted which individuals developed cancer. At the beginning of the study, the women were asked which medications they took, what they ate, and what activities they performed. When Jean Tang of Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, and her colleagues analyzed available data from 59,806 Caucasian women in the study, they found that women who took more aspirin were less likely to develop melanoma skin cancer during the 12 years of follow-up. — ANI