VISAKHAPATNAM/SRIKAKULAM: The Harvard University expert team which visited Uddanam, the epicentre of renal ailments in the State, on an invitation from Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Saturday advocated that bio-markers could detect the diseases in early stages.
Ahead of the visit, the team led by Joseph V Bonventre, a nephrologist of Harvard School of Medicine and Venkata S Sabbisetti, an Indian origin instructor in medicine division of Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard met the professors of Andhra Medical College (AMC) in Vizag who were part of a series of research studies done in Uddanam to trace the root cause of the chronic kidney diseases (CKD) that has been haunting the region for the last several decades.
The talks were facilitated by Dr NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) vice-chancellor T Ravi Raju as the experts discussed the history of CKD prevalence and the steps taken so far to deal with it.
The experts said that the CKD, otherwise considered as mysterious renal disorders, was prevalent not only in Andhra Pradesh, but also in Sri Lanka, Balkan Peninsula of eastern and south-eastern Europe.
“There are multiple hypotheses on the prevalence of renal ailments and they had been propounded considering various parameters. Our aim is to chalk out a suitable plan of remedy,” Joseph V Bonventre said.
“Given the information provided by AMC profs, I strongly suggest the use of bio-markers so that the ailments can be detected at early stage and the victims can be provided with effective treatment,” he said, adding that early detection is very crucial for treatment.
Referring to the possible causes of the prevalence, the experts said that they had their own doubts on the outcomes of the studies done in the region previously.
“The victims count might have been underestimated and chances were there that major research angles were lost. We will try to chalk out better methods of treatment which could be the first step for total eradication of the ailments,” Joseph said.
Answering to a query Ravi Raju said the move was not politically motivated, but an academic study for the greater goals. “Public health is the issue here. We welcome Pawan Kalyan’s initiative and the government is ready to extend full support.” So far, the researchers had collected blood and urine 1.1 lakh samples and 16 per cent of them were found with CKD symptoms.
Later in the day, the team visited Borivanka village in Kaviti Mandal of Srikakulam district and interacted with the renal ailment victims.
“After Pawan Kalyan brought the CKD issue to our notice during his tour to Harvard, we agreed to extend help. We will conduct research, in association with the AP government and other agencies to trace the root cause of the menace,” said Venkata S Sabbisetti.
The team said that they will gather more details and discuss with the teams involved in the previous surveys. “It will take some time before we come up with a credible solution,” Venkata Sabbisetti said. During the interaction, victims from Borivanka, Varaka, Pedda Sreerampuram, Lollaputtua, Bejjiputtuga, Narthuputtuga, Karrivanipalem and Idduvanipalem poured out their woes. “I have been suffering from CKD for the last four years and am spending more than 5,000 every month on medicine,”said Majji Sujatha from Borivanka.
Pawan to meet Harvard experts, Chief Minister
Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, who has invited the expert nephrologists from Harvard University to study the renal ailments in Uddanam, will meet the expert team in Vizag on Sunday. He will leave for Vijayawada on Monday and is likely to meet Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to deliberate on the issue.