Early screening could help combat renal failure – Kidney Specialist

Apr 17, 2014 News

—but there is no guarantee of prevention

It is advisable that people with a strong family history of kidney disease, as soon as possible, undergo thorough screening to ascertain their vulnerability; so that requisite action could be taken towards prevention.
This assertion was on Monday made by Kidney Surgeon attached to the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Christian Rabbat, during an interview with this publication.

Dr. Christian Rabbat chats with a young renal failure patient

But according to Dr. Rabbat, while screening may be recommended, the role of this process has not yet been proven as a means to prevent looming renal conditions. “When I say unproven (I mean) if I screen you early because you have a family history, I don’t know for sure that I will prevent things from happening down the road,” explained the kidney specialist who has been offering his skills to the Annandale, East Coast Demerara, Doobay Renal Centre.
He however, noted that screening has the potential of shedding light on measures that can be implemented to possibly reduce the chances of developing renal failure. “If you do screen early you can gain a little bit of knowledge, gain an understanding of what has to be done to try to prevent that outcome even though the benefit of screening is unproven…I think if you detect cases, at least you could try to do as much as you can to prevent them (patients) from getting worse,” said Dr. Rabbat.
And while this is merely the opinion of Dr. Rabbat, he is convinced that “people with strong family history of kidney failure merit having their kidney functions checked.”
In turning his attention to the noticeably young patients among those undergoing dialysis at the Doobay Centre, Dr. Rabbat observed that “patients here are much younger” compared to what he sees back home in Canada.
He pointed out too that the definition of the exact kidney disease seen locally, is perhaps less precise since one of the disadvantages is that “we don’t have the luxury of following these people before they went to dialysis.”
Dr. Rabbat disclosed though that oftentimes there are good reasons for the condition of people with high blood pressure and diabetes to become worse overtime since the two diseases have been increasingly linked to renal failure. “These two diseases cause a lot of kidney failure (but) there are some others who we don’t understand why they came to dialysis and we might have done different things like kidney biopsies to determine if they could be treated in a different way,” revealed the kidney doctor.
Moreover, the challenge in addressing renal failure, he noted, is connected to the need for a better understanding of what could be done, for young people with high blood pressure and diabetes, ahead of them being subjected to kidney failure. “We need to see what we could do before the kidneys get so bad that they need dialysis; which really is going to come down to applying certain medications and making sure that they are followed-up in clinic,” said Dr. Rabbat.
He, in considering the existing work of the East Coast Demerara Renal Centre, noted that there is potential for a lot more to be done in the area of renal care if strategic partnerships are forged. With the establishment of such relations, he noted that the provision of comprehensive kidney care could become a reality at the Centre.
He explained that while dialysis is one part of the management of people whose kidneys aren’t working, another aspect is that of putting in place measures that can cater to prevention. This, according to him, could see the development of clinics for persons who have kidney dysfunction before they need dialysis. “This is one of the possibilities, and there is an unanswered question because of the complexities that relate to transplantation…so care of people after they receive kidney transplant may be another area that is worth pursuing,” Dr. Rabbat said.