Take care of your kidneys

HEALTHY kidneys are important for your overall health and general well-being. By keeping your kidneys healthy, your body will filter and expel waste properly and produce hormones to help your body function properly.

Today (March 12) on World Kidney Day, the Renal Wise Society, a non-profit organisation situated at the brand new Renal Centre in Caledon Street, Uitenhage, will promote kidney health.

“The Renal Wise Society serves as a pre-dialysis clinic, where education and awareness are key to kidney health,” said Sister Elize Deerling Boesak, founder and chairperson of The Renal Wise Society.

“We inform the public about the signs of kidney disease, what the risk factors are and what causes kidney diseases. We also do kidney screenings, not only here, but also at factories, schools and other institutions in promoting kidney health.”

Chronic kidney disease means lasting damage to the kidneys that can get worse over time. If the damage is very bad, your kidneys may stop working. This is called kidney failure, or end-stage kidney disease. If your kidneys fail, you will need dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to survive.

The other important aspect Renal Wise Society focuses on, is kidney organ donation.

“Kidneys are in high demand as there are more than three hundred dialysis patients in Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth who are in the end stage of renal failure. They need dialysis to survive, if they can get successful kidney transplants, they will no longer need dialysis,” said Sister Deerling Boesak.

Make good health your lifestyle

Prevention is indeed better than cure concerning kidney health, therefore the Renal Wise Society runs a lifestyle management programme, promoting a healthy diet, controlled blood pressure as well a blood sugar.

Damage to your kidneys is usually permanent. Although the damage cannot be fixed, you can take steps to keep your kidneys as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

8 Golden rules for kidney health:

. Keep fit and active.