BHUBANESWAR: Dhenkanal is emerging as a new chronic kidney disease (CKD) hotspot in the state after Narasinghpur and Badamba blocks in Cuttack district.
Of around 4,000 kidney patients presented in last seven years at AMRI Hospital, which is now conducting the highest renal transplants in the private sector in the state, almost half of them are from Dhenkanal district.
“As per the study conducted in hospital settings, the prevalence of CKD has doubled from around three per cent a decade back to around six per cent now. We are now getting eight to 10 new patients every day and one in every two patients is from Dhenkanal,” said senior urologist and kidney transplant surgeon of AMRI Dr Manas Ranjan Pradhan.
Most of the kidney patients visiting the health facility have comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Although no study has been conducted to ascertain the reasons behind the sudden spike in kidney cases in the district, the patients are mostly from the villages located along both the sides of Brahmani river.
Brahmani, the second major river in Odisha, emerges from the combined waters of South Koel and Shankh rivers in Sundargarh district and flows through Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jajpur and Kendrapara before merging with the Bay of Bengal. “As the river passes through the mining and industrial areas in Sundargarh and Angul districts before reaching Dhenkanal, the contaminated water of the river is suspected to be one of the reasons behind the CKD prevalence in the district. The state government must initiate a study and take measures to address the health crisis,” said Dr Pradhan.
A study conducted by the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) revealed that presence of multimorbidity especially among CKD patients influenced the prognosis leading to longer hospital stays, more healthcare expenses, mortality and low quality of life.
Among the diagnosed CKD patients in Tigiria of Cuttack district found 92.9 per cent of them had other chronic conditions apart from kidney disease. Of 252 patients studied, 42.5 per cent had three or more additional chronic conditions, 26.2 per cent had two additional chronic conditions and 24.2 per cent had one additional chronic condition.
“The documented cases presented to hospitals represent the tip of the iceberg. Regular screening of CKD patients would help in detecting them early and undertake prompt management,” said a scientist from RMRC.