BAGUIO City Health officials expressed their alarm following the increasing number of dialysis patients due to kidney diseases.
From 2016 and 2017, the Baguio General Hospital (BGH) recorded 321 patients for dialysis with 169 patients undergoing dialysis from May to June this year. The youngest patient recorded is 10 years old while the oldest is 80.
According to Dr. Kimberly Rimando-Valera, medical officer IV at the Hemodialysis Unit of BGH, they treat two patients for dialysis a day and 40 patients a month with 131 male and 99 female patients.
Dialysis is the process of filtering a patient’s blood which function on behalf of the patient’s badly damaged kidneys.
Two of the leading causes for dialysis treatment are diabetes and hypertension.
Dr. Rimando-Valera said diabetes, hypertension, and kidney diseases are caused by a person’s diet and stress.
“Based in our history, most of our patients do not control whatever they are eating. They are fond of eating the processed food, kasi yun ang pinaka-handy. Because of the lifestyle we have now, we have more time for work and less time to prepare our own food. So most of the food they are taking is high in salt, high in cholesterol levels and mostly sweets,” said Rimando-Valera.
She adds people should consider their lifestyle choices and have a healthy lifestyle.
With June as the National Kidney Month, she advised people to be aware of their diet and create a healthy lifestyle for themselves such as making time to cook their food and drinking lots of water. (Louie Anne Mapa/UC intern)