According to the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), Thailand is one of the top five countries with the highest incidence of kidney disease.
The other day, I had the opportunity to join the honor of donating a dialysis machine to Queen Sirikit Hospital, Songkhla Province by Khun Kittithat Thanarat via Facebook Live, voluntary public media. sponsored by Safe and Creative Media Development Fund
Proving that kidney disease is a health problem that is threatening Thai people with patient rate increasing from 8 million in 2020 to 11.6 million in 2022 and number of dialysis patients increased from 80,000 to 100,000 people
The main reason for the rapid increase in the number of patients with kidney disease Part of this comes from consumer behavior, which found that Thais consume up to 3,635 milligrams of sodium per day, or equivalent to about 2 teaspoons of salt, which is the twice the amount it should be or it won’t harm the body.
Many people may ask. Why do Thais eat so much salt?
The answer is 90% of your sodium intake. It comes from various seasonings, such as fish sauce, soy sauce, soup cubes, salt, shrimp paste and monosodium glutamate, including various ready meals. That’s why we get more sodium than normal.
And because the chronic kidney disease situation in Thailand’s population is rapidly increasing. Until it becomes a public health problem that affects the country’s economy. Find a way to prevent an increase in the number of patients with chronic kidney disease or patients with chronic kidney disease. Don’t let it become chronic renal failure quickly. so it is important because when chronic kidney disease enters the final stage Drug treatment does not control the symptoms. Patients should receive kidney replacement therapy, which has 3 methods: hemodialysis by artificial kidney machine, peritoneal dialysis. and kidney transplant
According to a study on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Thailand, it was found that stage 1-5 chronic kidney disease has a total prevalence of approximately 17.5% of the population, compared to the prevalence of chronic kidney disease in the United States or other countries. Europeans. Thailand has a much higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease. Abroad, the prevalence rate of nephrotic syndrome is about 11-13%.
For patients with end stage renal disease The greatest impact is Patients with end stage renal disease requiring hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis The impact on the patient, in addition to the deterioration of his health compared to before the disease, will not be the same . affect your ability to work or advance your career There may be a decrease in your income or you may need to leave your job. poor quality of life
Although the best treatment is a kidney transplant. Because the patient does not need to come to dialysis or peritoneal dialysis Have a good quality of life close to normal people But there is a limitation that the number of kidney transplant each year can only be done about 600-700 cases, which depends by the capacity of the few institutions in Thailand and also by the number of kidneys donated each year.
Who is most at risk of chronic kidney disease? You are a patient with diabetes Diabetes has been found to be the cause of kidney disease in up to 30-40% of all patients with chronic kidney disease, followed by hypertension. Cardiovascular diseases, nephritis or autoimmune diseases such as SLE, those taking drugs or substances toxic to the kidneys, such as painkillers from the Ensed group. certain herbal medicines certain antibiotics kidney or urinary tract stones Kidney cyst disease Repeated upper urinary tract infections have little or low kidney mass or have only one kidney Older people 60 years of age and older have a family history of kidney disease chronic. overweight or obese people and people who smoke, etc.
The best solution to the problem is a communication to educate people about reducing their risk of kidney disease. Campaign to reduce salty foods, overly sweet and ready-to-eat processed meat and turned to eating more fruits and vegetables in the group of patients with diabetes. must control diet Take care of yourself and try to keep your blood sugar at a constant level to avoid developing more kidney disease.
The important thing is to eat foods from all 5 food groups, avoid risky behaviors such as drinking alcohol, smoking, exercising regularly and not being stressed, this will help reduce the risk of not only kidney disease but other non-communicable diseases as well .
