Chronic kidney failure describes the gradual loss of kidney function; these result in dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and wastes that can build up in the body, producing various symptoms and complications. When condition develops kidney failure, in many countries, dialysis or kidney transplant is the only solution recommended.

 

Prognosis of kidney failure

According to GFR level, chronic kidney failure is divided into five stages. Stages 1 and 2 have very good prognosis, that is to say, the conditions are reversible. Stages 3 and 4 only have 50% of possibility to be reversed, while stage 5 kidney failure is nearly impossible to reverse. Efficient treatment can only help avoid severe complications and improve the quality of life until the patient dies.

 

For Comfort Taye Arayela (Nee) Awoyemi, a former lecturer in the Department of English at Redeemer’s University, her nightmare started on Friday the 13th of March, 2015.

 

She had gone to visit her siblings in the U.K and to have a much deserved rest but Comfort had collapsed on arrival, prompting an impromptu health checkup. At the London Royal Hospital, doctors broke to her the news that shattered her serene life: she was diagnosed of having very high creatinine in her system and that ‘her kidneys have all gone.’

 

Doctors recommended immediate dialysis as their findings revealed that Comfort has less than two weeks to live if not treated, but the urgent solution was a kidney transplant.

 

In all, her treatment is expected to cost a whooping Twenty Seven Million Naira (N27, 000.000).

 

Comfort Arayela is not alone in this sorry situation. A graduate of Benue State University, Mbonu Gloria Tochi is in similar situation. Her journey to the hospital started sometimes in December when what she thought was a routine visit to the hospital turned up something devastating: she was diagnosed of end stage renal disease, (Kidney Failure).

 

Tochi was placed on Haemodialysis at the Clinix Healthcare in Lagos where she started with two sessions twice daily. Since her ordeal started, she has had over twenty sessions of dialysis. Doctors concluded she would need a kidney transplant at an Indian hospital urgently and this is expected to cost N10 million, a sum clearly out of reach anywhere under heaven, she prompting a public appeal that has not yielded much as you read this.

 

From Steve Kadiri to Chaz Bruce (both prominent On-Air Personalities,) OJB Jezrel, (a popular musician and songwriter) to Umaru Yar’Adua, a former president, it is a sad chronicle of people suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease, (CKD). From Renal Dialysis Centre to Life Support System Limited, from Eko Hospitals to St Nicholas’ hospital, the pathetic sight of Nigerians living on the precipice of death is shocking; no thanks to CKD.

 

Alarming statistics

Dr. Ebun Ladipo Bamgboye, a consultant Nephrologist at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, branded CKD a ‘silent killer’ with symptoms similar to other ailments, making it difficult to detect. Some of the symptoms of Kidney disease, the doctor revealed, include change in frequency/quantity of urine passage, especially at nights.

 

“It begins with a rush, followed by blood in the urine (Haematuria; then foamy urine; puffiness around the eyes and ankles (oedema), pain in the back (under the lower ribs, where the kidneys are located). Patients also suffer pain when passing urine,” Bamgboye revealed.

 

When the kidneys begin to fail, there is a build-up of waste products and extra fluid in the blood besides other problems, gradually leading to weakness, loss of concentration followed by loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting, breathlessness etc.

 

Medical experts conclude this alarming statistics to lifestyles victims engage in, revealing also that diabetes and high blood pressure are two underlying causes of kidney diseases. The data also states that more than five percent of adult population has some form of kidney damages while millions die prematurely of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) annually.

 

“CKD is a problem in our environment. Estimates suggest that one out of seven Nigerians live with one stage of chronic kidney disease or the other,” the doctor further said.

 

High cost of Dialysis/kidney transplant

Dr. B.T. Bello of Clinix Healthcare, Gbagada, Lagos also told Daily Times that for every diagnosis of Kidney failure, the treatment regime includes sessions of dialysis and the cost can be out of reach of most sufferers. For example, N150,000 per session is the minimal cost and a patient requires as many as three sessions per week.

 

“Most kidney failure patients that should undergo dialysis are unable to do so because of the cost of each session. Unfortunately, if you have kidney failure and you don’t do dialysis or transplant within two weeks, chances of surviving would be very slim.” Bello said.

 

 

To compound the financial problem, the average cost of a kidney transplant in any Indian hospital ranges from Ten Thousand Dollars (Twenty Million Naira) upwards.

 

Transplant and donor syndicate

For every diagnosed case of CKD, the treatment requires organ transplant. Dr. Ayo Shonibare, President of the Transplant Association of Nigeria (TAN) explained the complexity of kidney transplant operation.

 

“This is a very expensive and complicated surgery; most kidney transplants are done outside the shores of this country because only a handful of hospitals in the country have the required expertise and equipments for kidney transplant,” Shonibare said.

 

Daily Times investigation revealed that for every case, it is imperative to get a donor willing to part with his or her kidney. It is not enough to be willing to donate a kidney; a retinue of tests must be carried out to ascertain the compatibility of the donor. For Chaz B, a CKD patient, it was his wife who donated a kidney for her husband; a brother donated for Steve Kadiri while it was ascertained a brother also donated for OJB, the musician.

 

Another disturbing trend is however rearing its ugly head as investigations has shown that a syndicate is now on rampage selling kidneys. Chaz B was reported to have fallen victim of this syndicate when after parting with his money,  they got to India to discover that the potential donor has medical issues of his own and not even fit to donate his kidney. It is also in the news lately that some young people of Nigerian descent where engaging in a kidney for sale syndicate in far away Malaysia.”

 

According to Dr. Ebun Bamgboye, who is also the Vice President of the Transplant Association of Nigeria, he said that the attendant increase in commercial kidney donors among Nigerians, “seeking buyers for their kidneys on daily basis,” is a source of worry to the association.

 

How what we eat can cause kidney failure.

If you are the type that likes junks and fatty foods, you better have a rethink. If you are the type that can’t do without burger, ham, pizza, you better have a change of mind before you take a bite of that piece of burger you are holding. If sodas are your own favourite kind of drink, you better have a change of heart before you downed that chilled bottle of Coke and Pepsi.

 

According to Dr. Bamgboye like many other organ failures, kidney failure is caused by the actions of man and some allied disease. Speaking further he said the prevalence of CKD can be traced to the eating habits of most people.

 

He also highlighted that those suffering from diabetes and hypertension as potential candidates for CKD, he also said people with history of CKD are liable of getting the diseases. He admonished that a healthy eating habit, regular exercise and frequent visits to the hospital are the sure ways of beating the disease. He also said early detection will go a long way in helping.

 

Medical tourism and the issue of capital flight

 At the slightest symptoms of headache, prominent Nigerians board the next available flight to more advanced countries to seek solution in what has been branded ‘medical tourism’, something Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, says must stop.

 

“In fact, things have gone so bad in the country that Nigerians travel abroad to conduct medical check-up on simple matters such as blood pressure,” he said

 

The association warns about the staggering amount of money Nigeria is losing to foreign countries (especially India) on medical tourism.

 

The NMA said India rakes in well over N40bn, which is about 50 per cent of the bill. Over 5000 Nigerians travel to India, with each of them spending between $20,000 and $40,000 on the average a year. 

 

QUOTE 1

It is imperative to get a donor willing to part with his or her kidney for every case of renal failure. It is not enough to be willing to donate a kidney; a retinue of tests must be carried out to ascertain the compatibility of the donor. – Bamgboye

 

QUOTE 2

The attendant increase in commercial kidney donors among Nigerians, seeking buyers for their kidneys on daily basis, is a source of worry – Medics

 

By: BABAJIDE OKEOWO

Daily Times