Kidney failure 'attacks' young people

To prevent early kidney failure, doctors recommend changing health behaviors, from healthy eating to exercise.

Recently, news of a young actress suffering from end-stage renal failure at just under 30 years old has shocked many people.

Alarming statistics

The actress was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure in May 2023, and by 2024 the disease had rapidly progressed to the final stage. Currently, the patient's health is exhausted, with edema, high blood pressure, hyponatremia, and daily dialysis. The treating doctor said that a kidney transplant is the only solution to sustain life.

Many people have to go on dialysis in their 30s.

According to statistics, each year Vietnam has about 8,000 new cases of kidney failure, many of which are people under 30 years old. Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of patients who have to live thanks to regular dialysis. What is worrying is that many young people are diagnosed with the disease at a late stage, facing lifelong dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant.

Specialist Doctor II Vu Thi Minh Hoa, Head of the Department of Nephrology - Dialysis at Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital (HCMC), said that in the past, kidney failure cases in young people mainly originated from congenital causes, genetic diseases such as polycystic kidney or immune disorders that silently damage the kidneys. However, in recent years, the hospital has recorded a significant number of young patients with acute kidney failure due to causes related to lifestyle habits such as self-medication with drugs of unknown origin, prolonged medication without professional prescription or maintaining a poor, unscientific diet. These factors cause acute damage to the kidneys, leading to acute kidney failure.

According to Dr. Hoa, even after emergency treatment, kidney function can recover somewhat, but most patients still fall into stage 2, 3 or 4 chronic kidney failure. Some cases progress severely, forcing them to undergo regular dialysis because they have entered the final stage of the disease.

Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Thi Diem Huong, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City (Facility 3), said that according to in-depth reports from domestic medical facilities, in the period 2020-2025, medical facilities recorded the rate of people aged 18 to 30 with kidney disease accounting for about 20% -30% of the total number of kidney disease cases. This is an alarming number, reflecting the rapid rejuvenation of a disease that was once considered "for old age".

Unscientific eating

Chronic kidney disease is a condition of prolonged and irreversible decline in kidney function, progressing through five stages based on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

In the early stages, the disease often has no obvious symptoms. From stage 3 onwards, the patient may experience fatigue, anemia, high blood pressure, and electrolyte disturbances. Stages 4-5 are when kidney function is severely impaired, requiring preparation for dialysis or kidney transplantation.

According to Dr. Huong, the cause of kidney failure in young people is related to a series of factors from lifestyle to habits. Specifically: Unscientific eating and drinking when increasing consumption of fast food, processed foods, sugary drinks, foods containing a lot of salt, saturated fat and refined sugar puts pressure on the kidneys.

In addition, a sedentary lifestyle, staying up late, and high stress increase the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and dangerous underlying diseases that damage the kidneys.

In addition, some habits such as holding urine and drinking little water - seemingly harmless behaviors - can cause kidney function to decline, easily leading to urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

In particular, self-medication, abuse of drugs, functional foods of unknown origin or "kidney tonic" products sold widely can cause interstitial nephritis, renal tubular necrosis, and even acute renal failure.

Notably, some underlying diseases such as glomerulonephritis, diabetes, metabolic disorders... are increasingly being diagnosed in people under 35 years old - of which chronic glomerulonephritis is the leading cause of end-stage renal failure.

To prevent early kidney failure, doctors recommend changing health behaviors from drinking healthily, reducing salt intake, limiting processed foods, drinking enough water to exercising at least 150 minutes/week.

Along with that, urine tests, blood creatinine, and blood pressure measurements should be added to the regular check-up package, especially for people at high risk. In addition, healtheducation should be enhanced by leveraging social networks and influencers (KOLs) to raise public awareness about kidney care and protection.

Many consequences

Kidney failure in young people not only affects the individual but also has serious consequences for the family and society such as economic burden. Dialysis costs 12-36 million VND/month; kidney transplant costs 300-500 million VND/case. Many young people have to drop out of school, lose their jobs, and depend on their families.

In addition, the quality of life is reduced when patients have to undergo dialysis 3 times/week, facing many complications such as anemia, edema, prolonged fatigue, and decline in physical and mental health. At the same time, the pressure on the health system is put on because only about 30% of the current dialysis needs are met. In particular, the cost of dialysis is among the largest expenditure groups of health insurance.

nld.com.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/suy-than-tan-cong-nguoi-tre-post403663.html