One out of 10 Belgians would be affected by kidney problems, and often without knowing it… However, one blood test a year is enough to make sure that everything is fine.
The kidneys are the purification plant of our body. They filter 15 liters of blood every day to eliminate waste. Without them, a person dies in less than a week. A vital but discreet organ. No throbbing, no noise, and most of the time, no pain. “In general, the kidney is asymptomatic and does not generate any pain. There are no direct symptoms given by the kidney”explains Luc Radermacher, nephrologist at the CHR Citadelle in Liège.
From the age of 35, a healthy person loses 1% of their kidney capacity every year. Loss which can be faster, especially in case of diabetes and hypertension. When the kidneys no longer work, the delay for obtaining a transplant is two to three years, and in the meantime, the filtering work must be entrusted to dialysis.
“These machines are used three times a week per patient, and a session lasts between three and four hours. You can imagine the constraint of having to come to the hospital 3-4 times”, adds Luc Radermacher.
A million Belgians have kidneys that do not function optimally and 900,000 of them do not know it. A simple blood test, strongly recommended after 50 years, can be fixed. “We will test creatinine which is a marker of kidney function found in the blood. By testing this creatinine, we will realize that the kidneys are showing signs of weakness”concludes Luc Radermacher.
If this diagnosis is made early enough, the treatment will be much less burdensome than dialysis. Stop smoking, eat well, drink enough water and exercise.