Doctors warn against self medication

Medical experts have warned the public against consumption of illicit drugs because it’s one of the leading causes of Kidney disease. The most endangered people are those who do self medication without medical advice and those who continuously used traditional herbs.Dr Joseph Ntarindwa, a Consultant Nephrologists at King Faisal Hospital, says use of drugs plays a significant role in causing of kidney disease. “Whatever is bad for the heart is also bad for the kidneys, therefore the public should be aware of the danger to the kidney caused by smoking and alcohol,” he explainedThe non-steroid drugs are very delicate. These include strong pain killers such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen (paracetamol) which can also cause chronic kidney damage. Using herbal medicine without knowing the proper dosage can also affect the kidney.Although kidney disease is said to be non-communicable disease, it is caused by both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Communicable diseases include skin sepsis, bacterial upper respiratory infections HIV/Aids and non-communicable diseases like hepatitis B and C, hypertension, and diabetes. Medical practitioners say that in the early stage of kidney disease, one may not feel sick or notice symptoms as they occur, but when kidneys fail to filter properly, waste accumulates in the blood and the body. If the disease progresses, symptoms become noticeable. Symptoms of kidney failure include: High levels of urea in the blood, which can result in, Vomiting and/or diarrhea, which may lead to dehydration. “Increased availability of clean water and improved housing, and control of hepatitis B and C will go a long way to reduce the burden of kidney disease”, Dr Ntarindwa advisedAlthough there are no exact figures on the prevalence of kidney failures in Rwanda, there is an estimation of 1,100 cases which require dialysis and more than 33,000 cases country wide with chronic renal health which is reversible. It is estimated that the prevalence of end-stage kidney disease in Sub-Saharan Africa is 100 cases per million people.