Some medical experts have identified prevention and early detection as the best ways to manage the incidence of kidney disease, currently ravaging the country.

The experts, Dr Mustapha Ovih, a Consultant Physician, and Dr Livinus Abonyi, a Medical Imaging Scientist, stated this in Lagos, on Monday, in separate interviews .

Abonyi, who is also a lecturer at the Department of Medical Radiography, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, University of Lagos, College of Medicine, said the best way to manage the condition was through prevention.

He said that from clinic observations and available statistics, more people were coming down with kidney disease in the country.

“One of the prescribed ways of managing the disease now is actually prevention, protection, and early detection and to do the things to keep the kidneys healthy.

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“Cases of kidney diseases are increasing daily, hence the reason to imbibe practices that will prevent one from coming down with the disease,” Abonyi said.

He explained that it was necessary that people go for screening to establish their status regarding the disease, pointing out that insisting on prevention was caused by the unwillingness of people to voluntarily donate kidneys for transplantation.

Abonyi advised people to avoid salt, smoking, drinking and focus on keeping blood pressure down, avoid diabetes, being overweight, and adopt a healthy lifestyle so as to preventing coming down with the condition.

Similarly, Ovih identified high blood pressure as the one of the main causes of kidney disease, which was presently only managed by dialysis, an expensive procedure.

He added that while high blood pressure was the number one cause of kidney disease in Africa, many people do not even know they have high blood pressure.

The consultant physician also identified diabetes as another major cause, adding that anyone with a long-standing high blood sugar level could come down with complications.

“There are environmental and lifestyle causes which include fumes, smokes, drinking alcohol, and herbal mixtures and even bleaching: these have some components which can damage the kidney.

“Kidney and renal disease management are quite expensive. Being diagnosed with kidney disease can be a huge challenge, for both the patient and those around them.

“Its diagnosis and management, particularly in advanced stages, through either dialysis or transplantation, are too expensive,” he said, adding that it would cost not less than N90,000 to undergo three rounds of dialysis per week and this was the case for most patients.

“Therefore, it is a lot cheaper to prevent kidney damage because once you have kidney damage there is no going back. We plead with people to be more aware of the factors that increase the illness,’’ he said.