Protect your Kidneys
Australians need to understand that heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes are the "big three" of mortality – a fact which will be highlighted on World Kidney Day (13 Mar), says Anne Wilson, CEO of Kidney Health Australia.
"Protect your kidneys, save your heart" will be this year's theme.
"For kidney disease alone, 1.7 million Australians have kidney disease and 54 Australians die each day with kidney-related disease," Ms Wilson told the AJP.
"That's more deaths than from prostate cancer, breast cancer, suicide and road deaths. It's the 10th leading cause of death.
"I don't think the general public, or even people at risk, understand the comorbidities and the connections between kidney disease, heart disease and diabetes. Kidney disease is a major indicator for heart disease and diabetes – so for example if you've got undiagnosed chronic kidney diseases, and it's gone unnoticed for years, you're 20 times more likely to die of a cardiovascular event. That isn't known."
Ms Wilson says pharmacists are in the "perfect position" to help tell their customers that the three are "nasty relatives".
"We at Kidney Health Australia see pharmacy as an extension of primary care," she says. "What pharmacists need to focus on are the seven high-risk categories for kidney disease: anyone with diabetes, anyone with high blood pressure, people in general over the age of 55, smokers, people who have a first-degree family history of kidney disease or heart disease, people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent and people who are obese.
"If he or she has a customer who's coming to pick up a medicine for hypertension or diabetes, they're the target group.
"They could say: 'Have you had a kidney check recently?' and if they answer is no, suggest they see their GP again. That should be a pathway for pharmacists to be able to bounce them back into primary care."
More information: www.kidney.org.au
Reproduced from AJP on Friday 28/2/14
