Kidney disease has no symptoms until it is too late – Dr Elliot K. Tannor
Kidney disease has no symptoms until it is too late – Dr Elliot K. Tannor. The Director and Founder of the Kidney Health International has once again stressed the need for people to regularly check the status of their kidneys.
This, according to Dr Tannor is the surest way of keeping ones kidneys healthy. Speaking to the media after the public lecture to mark the World Kidney Day, Dr Tannor was emphatic that “unlike malaria and other diseases, you can have kidney disease for 5 years without any symptom and you will look okay until you check.”
Before the public lecture, the kidney health international in collaboration with the Ghana Kidney Association held a massive free health screening where almost 400 people were screened at the Kumasi Kejetia Dubai. The screening forms part of the regular activities of the Kidney Health International which is held each year to mark the World Kidney Day, a significant day in the calendar of the NGO.
Established over five years ago, the Kidney Health International has become a household name in the area of kidney health advocacy leading the spread of kidney health education in Ghana and beyound with the provision of kidney health talks in Churches, Schools, Institutions, Communities and all organized groups.
Each year, the organization also embarks of a number of free kidney screening exercises to identify early warning signs of kidney disease and refers those who show signs to the nearest facility for further medical examination to prevent progression.
Dr Tannor further encourages Ghanaians not to wait until they see signs of kidney disease before the check their kidneys. He was firm on the point that, since the disease does not show symptoms at its early stages, what may seem like a symptom may actually be a complication as a result of pregression into a later stage.
This has been the problem with kidney disease in Ghana.
According to him, “My average patient has no idea what is wrong with him or her until it is explained to them”
In Ghana, many people know very little about kidney disease, and what compunds the problem is that lots of people are scared to be screened. When screening programs are taken close to their communities too, the fear of being told of a health condition drives them away.
In response to this, Dr Tannor further encouraged the public that “even if you are told that you have any form of kidney disease, it is not a death sentence. Early detection is key, and that is the only way you can be protected from not progressing to kidney failure where you will now need to put on dialysis”
In his parting words to mark the day, he hoped that many Ghanaians will make it a regular habit to check their kidneys at least once a year to be sure that their kidneys are in healthy conditions.
He however was quick to add that for those who were highly at risk, i.e. people living with diabetes or with high blood pressure, there was the need for them to have their kidneys checked at least once every six months since these two conditions remained as the two major causes of chronic kidney disease, with diabetes being the number cause globally.
In Ghana, there are over four million people (4,000,000) out of the population of over thirty million (30,000,000) who are living with one form of kidney disease or the other.
The world kidney day is celebrated on the second Thursday of each month of March.