On the occasion of World Heart Day, Regency Superspeciality Hospital, Lucknow organized a digital Press Conference in which Dr Deepak Dewan, MD, DM (Nephrology), Director Renal Sciences said that heart and kidney diseases often go together and the patient suffering from any of these two often undergo Cardiorenal syndrome (CRS), an umbrella term that defines disorders of the heart and kidneys.
The conference was moderated by Dr Abhishek Srivastava, Consultant-Critical Care Anaesthesia & Emergency Medicine, Regency Superspeciality Hospital, Lucknow. People with chronic heart failure who also have kidney disease are at a substantially higher risk of early death. And among people with chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular problems end up causing death in almost half.
“Kidney takes almost 0.2 per cent of the total body weight and kidney pumps 20-22% of purified blood to the body. That indicates kidney and heart are very closely related. When there is a problem in the kidney, it impacts your heart and vice versa. This is called as a cardiorenal syndrome. Both kidney and heart failure are of two types. Those patients who have a kidney problem, their chances of having cardiovascular issues increases three times than patients who do not have a kidney problem. Similarly, those who have heart problem they are 30 per cent prone to kidney problem,” said Dr Deepak Dewan, MD, DM (Nephrology), Director Renal Sciences Regency Superspeciality Hospital
Unfortunately, India with a population of 1.34 billion people, doesn’t have a widespread awareness on cardiorenal syndrome despite it’s being quite prevalent. Both kidney and heart disease patients share two of the main causes – diabetes and high blood pressure. So, the management of them is a must. Keep your blood pressure below 140/90 and control your blood glucose if you have diabetes.
It has also been seen that the medications used to treat kidney and heart diseases often causes a negative impact on each other. It’s very important to have a delicate dosage so that your ailment gets cured without affecting other organ. Another important part of treating kidney disease and heart disease includes living a healthy lifestyle.
“With the COVID 19 outbreak negatively impacting healthcare access and mobility, Doctors and healthcare experts are concerned that delayed diagnosis and interruptions in treatment are resulting in many preventable deaths and the worsening prognosis for cardiovascular patients. There has been a significant drop among patients reporting for any cardiovascular problems as people are postponing hospital visits until it is absolutely unavoidable. Disruptions in travel and transport have further prevented many people from smaller towns and rural areas from reaching hospitals for treatment. Notably, heart disease is responsible for one in four deaths in India today with ischemic heart disease and stroke responsible for more than 80% of this burden. People need to take preventive actions by adopting a healthy lifestyle and have a diet rich in fruits, vegetables. Also, Heart patients should be in touch with their doctors to continue their treatment through online consultations and must not delay hospital visits for regular checkups. People can also opt for superfoods which have been available to us traditionally like Ginger, Garlic, Pepper, Tulsi etc to boost their immunity” Ms Amritah Sandhu, Founder- Director, CareIndia- Wellness Pharmacy.
