Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
DMRC’s renal failure pilot study finds… Hypertension, diabetes common risk factors for Guyanese
Hypertension [high blood pressure] and diabetes have been found to be two of the main factors causing persons to be vulnerable to renal failure here in Guyana.
Dr. Azim Gangji
This has been substantiated through the first phase of a study conducted by the Doobay Medical and Research Centre [DMRC] at Annandale, East Coast Demerara, in collaboration with Canada’s McMaster University.
The pilot study was done by Dr. Azim Gangji, a Canada-based Transplant Physician, who has been volunteering his services to DMRC for close to a decade. He said the study targeted the predominant races – African and Indian Guyanese. A sample of 100 individuals – 50 African-Guyanese and 50 Indian-Guyanese – was randomly selected for the study.
Renal failure [also known as kidney failure] is said to occur when an individual’s kidneys lose their ability to sufficiently filter waste from the blood, control the body’s fluid balance, and keep the right level of electrolytes. A number of medical conditions can cause an individual to develop renal failure, but as Dr. Gangji noted, of the sample studies there are two common risk factors – hypertension and diabetes – among Guyanese.
There is no cure for renal failure, so the best options for those so diagnosed, once their condition becomes chronic, is to be dialysed [have a machine remove the waste from the blood at least three times weekly] until they die or undergo a kidney transplant surgery once they are able to find a willing donor.
But according to Dr. Gangji, the possibility exists that the potential of developing renal failure could be reversed if the necessary measures are taken, once persons are found to have the pre-conditions. “A lot of people don’t know they have these conditions,” said Dr. Gangji, as he disclosed that “we had a 50 percent split between Indian and African Guyanese, so that we can get a full spectrum.”
As part of the research, the medical expert, who is an Academic Clinician and Professor of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, said that those selected for the research had their blood and pressure tested. If these were found to be elevated, he explained that “we started them off on medication free of charge from DMRC.”
The project is currently in its follow-up phase. According to Dr. Gangji, in another seven to eight months the outcome of early treatment to reverse the effects of the pre-conditions, and by extension renal failure, is likely to be published and shared with the Ministry of Public Health.
“If we can identify their conditions and treat them very quickly, then we can prevent all of these kidney failures and even cardiac complications, neurological complications such as stroke and amputations and so forth, from occurring,” said Dr. Gangji.
He however noted that treatment must go hand in hand with proper diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes.
Although DMRC was introduced to provide dialysis to a growing renal failure population here back in 2011, the facility’s operation has since evolved. This has seen the facility seeking to ascertain, through the study, what are the primary contributory factors, with a view of helping to reduce the number of renal failure patients.
According to Dr. Budhendranauth Doobay, Head of DMRC, the study was therefore designed to target persons unaware of conditions they have that could contribute to renal failure. This is in light of the fact that many people present when they begin to manifest symptoms of renal failure.
“This assessment is to determine whether they [participants] have high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol, and we at the centre will provide this service free of cost to them,” Dr. Doobay had said when the study was launched in November of last year.
Programme Manager at McMaster University’s Population Health Research Institute, Ms. Dipika Desai, said then too, “It is important to study the actual risk factors of what brings people to end stage renal failure.” She pointed out that such information is currently lacking in Guyana, adding that, “We did a little bit of literature review and we try to understand what we can, to see what published research there is about Guyana, but unfortunately we didn’t find much, and so we said that’s what we have to do…build a baseline…before we start on a wider scale.”
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