BE PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR WORK!
There is the need to be passionate about the profession you choose. Being it a journalist, teacher, labourer or a doctor.
Most people delve into professions they least expected. Either for fun or that was the only option they had or for the money.
Every profession is very important and has a quota to play in the country.
A friend once told me that, she would be a nurse because she did not get admission to the university. I asked her whether she had the passion for it or she would be dedicated. There was no response.
I have been to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for about some weeks now and can confidently conclude that some nurses and some few medical students (student’s doctors) are impatience.
Some patients need time to recover whilst others need much attention but some of the nurses do not do so. They take certain things for granted. They should bare in mind that, they want to save life that is why they are there.
I plead with all nurses and doctors all over the country to exercise patience as they have always been doing to save life of our dear ones.
JOSEPHINE ARABA AIDOO
ACCRA
NATIONAL SERVICE POSTING
Every year, students complain about the national service posting. Either they have been posted to a place they do not know of or to do something that is not related to their course.
My sister was posted to a school which had been closed down for some years. Meanwhile she was a biology student.
I asked those in authority at NSS to please post us to places that are convenient.
They do not consider the fact that the person studied a particular course and ought to be posted at an appropriate place.
Most people are being posted to teach whilst they do not know how to do so. It is the students who suffer in return.
I pray this batch and the rest would be posted at vantage places.
JOSEPHINE ARABA AIDOO
ACCRA
Thursday, September 8, 2011
CREATE AWARENESS ON KIDNEY FAILURE
Sickness does not know young or old. It affects everyone and brings sadness to relatives.
People pay more attention to sicknesses like malaria, cholera and others but forget that the liver, kidney, heart and others contribute to other sickness.
I did not know anything about renal (kidney) failure until a close relative of my relative was diagnosed.
In her case, the doctors were scared to tell her earlier so they kept it from her and gave her medicines for some time. For some years, they told her that her kidneys are not functioning properly. If the doctors had told her earlier she could have been acute, meaning, she can come for dialysis from time to time and her sickness would not be severe.
The question is, what is Chronic Renal Failure, what are the causes, symptoms, effects and preventions? Renal failure is "loss of renal function, either acute or chronic, that results in azotemia and syndrome of uremia.” (Medilexicon's medical dictionary)
Chronic kidney failure, also known as chronic renal failure, chronic renal disease, or chronic kidney disease, is a slow progressive loss of kidney function over a period of several years. Eventually the patient has permanent kidney failure. Chronic kidney failure is much more common than people realize, and often goes undetected and undiagnosed until the disease is well advanced and kidney failure is fairly imminent. It is not unusual for people to realize they have chronic kidney failure only when their kidney function is down to 25% of normal.
As kidney failure advances and the organ's function is seriously impaired, dangerous levels of waste and fluid can rapidly build up in the body. Treatment is aimed at stopping or slowing down the progression of the disease - this is usually done by controlling its underlying cause.
If chronic kidney failure ends in end-stage kidney disease, the patient will not survive without dialysis (artificial filtering) or a kidney transplant.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, approximately 1 to 4 in every 1,000 British people is affected by chronic kidney disease.
Our kidneys carry out the complex system of filtration in our bodies - excess waste and fluid material are removed from the blood and excreted from the body. Our kidneys get their blood and oxygen supply from the renal arteries, which are branches of the abdominal aorta (another artery). When it enters the kidneys, blood goes through smaller and smaller blood vessels - the smallest ones being the glomeruli (tiny capillary blood vessels which are arranged in tufts).
It is in the glomeruli that blood is filtered - waste, fluids and other substances are extracted and cross into miniscule tubules, from which the bloodstream reabsorbs what the body is able to reuse. What the body cannot reuse - waste - is excreted in our urine.
In most cases our kidneys are able to eliminate all waste materials that our body produces. However, if the blood flow to the kidneys is affected, of the tubules or glomeruli are not working properly because of damage or disease, or if urine outflow is obstructed, problems can occur.
Diabetes and hypertension are among the leading causes of chronic kidney disease.
Diabetes - chronic kidney failure is linked to both Diabetes Types I and II. If the patient's diabetes is not well controlled, excess sugar (glucose) can accumulate in the blood. Glucose can damage the glomeruli. The risk of chronic kidney failure is higher among patients with Diabetes Type I. Doctors say that approximately 20% to 40% of patients with Diabetes Type I develop kidney disease by the time they are 50 years of age.
Kidney disease is not common during the first ten years of diabetes; it more commonly occurs between years 15 to 25 after diagnosis (of diabetes). However, as treatment methods improve, experts say that the number of diabetes patients developing kidney disease is falling.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) - high blood pressure can damage the glomeruli. Hypertension is a frequent cause of chronic kidney disease. Systemic hypertension causes direct damage to small blood vessels in the nephron. The kidneys lose their ability to autoregulate glomerular filtration flow and pressure, with resultant hyperfiltration manifesting as albuminuria and proteinuria. When the proximal convoluted tubule reabsorbs the excess protein, secretion of vasoactive substances further damages the glomerular-tubular apparatus. Nephron damage activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, resulting in increased sympathetic tone and fluid overload, which compound the progression of hypertension and nephron loss.
Obstructed urine flow - if urine flow is obstructed it can back up into the kidney from the bladder (vesicoureteral reflux). Blocked urine flow increases pressure on the kidneys, and undermines their function. Possible causes include an enlarged prostate, kidney stones, or a tumor.
Kidney diseases - including polycystic kidney disease, pyelonephritis, or glomerulonephritis.
Kidney artery stenosis - the renal artery narrows or is blocked before it enters the kidney.
Certain toxins - including fuels, solvents (such as carbon tetrachloride), and lead (and lead-based paint, pipes, and soldering materials). Even some types of jewelry have toxins which can lead to chronic kidney failure.
Fetal developmental problem - if the kidneys do not develop properly in the unborn baby while it is developing in the womb.
Systemic lupus erythematosis - an autoimmune disease. The body's own immune system attacks the kidneys as though they were foreign tissue.
Malaria and yellow fever
Some medications - overuse of, for example, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
Illegal drug abuse - such as heroin or cocaine.
Injury - a sharp blow or physical injury to the kidney(s).
At first the percentage of people who go for dialysis were between 13-25% but due to lack of education on it, there are about 46% of people going for dialysis. The percentage has increased drastically.
The machines at the renal dialysis unit are not enough, and also, some are spoilt.
Aside the process, patients are to pay a deposit of GHC5,000 before they start the process. Moreover, they need to pay another injection which causes more than 4million. Each month, patients are to pay a certain amount for dialysis. If they fail to do so, they would be stopped from coming (and it’s obvious they will die).
Of late, the youth are undergoing dialysis, as young as 6years.
I plead with the government to subsidise the fees and also the media and medical practitioners should help create awareness of kidney failure because it is equally important as any other disease, and also the percentage of people who do not know about it is very high.
JOSEPHINE ARABA AIDOO
ACCRA
SOURCES
American Diabetes Association. Clinical practice recommendations 2001. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(suppl):S69–72.
CATHERINE S. SNIVELY, M.D., and CECILIA GUTIERREZ, M.D., University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, California
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, Cushman WC, Green LA, Izzo JL Jr, et al. Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. The JNC 7 report [published correction appears in JAMA 2003;290:197]. JAMA. 2003;289:2560–72.
Excerpts from the United States Renal Data System’s 2000 annual data report: atlas of end-stage renal disease in the United States. Am J Kidney Dis. 2000;36(6 suppl 2):S1–137.
Kasiske BL, Kalil RS, Ma JZ, Liao M, Keane WF. Effect of antihypertensive therapy on the kidney in patients with diabetes: a meta-regression analysis. Ann Intern Med. 1993;118:129–38.
Levey AS, Bosch JP, Lewis JB, Greene T, Rogers N, Roth D. A more accurate method to estimate glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine: a new prediction equation. Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Group. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130:461–70.
Sickness does not know young or old. It affects everyone and brings sadness to relatives.
People pay more attention to sicknesses like malaria, cholera and others but forget that the liver, kidney, heart and others contribute to other sickness.
I did not know anything about renal (kidney) failure until a close relative of my relative was diagnosed.
In her case, the doctors were scared to tell her earlier so they kept it from her and gave her medicines for some time. For some years, they told her that her kidneys are not functioning properly. If the doctors had told her earlier she could have been acute, meaning, she can come for dialysis from time to time and her sickness would not be severe.
The question is, what is Chronic Renal Failure, what are the causes, symptoms, effects and preventions? Renal failure is "loss of renal function, either acute or chronic, that results in azotemia and syndrome of uremia.” (Medilexicon's medical dictionary)
Chronic kidney failure, also known as chronic renal failure, chronic renal disease, or chronic kidney disease, is a slow progressive loss of kidney function over a period of several years. Eventually the patient has permanent kidney failure. Chronic kidney failure is much more common than people realize, and often goes undetected and undiagnosed until the disease is well advanced and kidney failure is fairly imminent. It is not unusual for people to realize they have chronic kidney failure only when their kidney function is down to 25% of normal.
As kidney failure advances and the organ's function is seriously impaired, dangerous levels of waste and fluid can rapidly build up in the body. Treatment is aimed at stopping or slowing down the progression of the disease - this is usually done by controlling its underlying cause.
If chronic kidney failure ends in end-stage kidney disease, the patient will not survive without dialysis (artificial filtering) or a kidney transplant.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, approximately 1 to 4 in every 1,000 British people is affected by chronic kidney disease.
Our kidneys carry out the complex system of filtration in our bodies - excess waste and fluid material are removed from the blood and excreted from the body. Our kidneys get their blood and oxygen supply from the renal arteries, which are branches of the abdominal aorta (another artery). When it enters the kidneys, blood goes through smaller and smaller blood vessels - the smallest ones being the glomeruli (tiny capillary blood vessels which are arranged in tufts).
It is in the glomeruli that blood is filtered - waste, fluids and other substances are extracted and cross into miniscule tubules, from which the bloodstream reabsorbs what the body is able to reuse. What the body cannot reuse - waste - is excreted in our urine.
In most cases our kidneys are able to eliminate all waste materials that our body produces. However, if the blood flow to the kidneys is affected, of the tubules or glomeruli are not working properly because of damage or disease, or if urine outflow is obstructed, problems can occur.
Diabetes and hypertension are among the leading causes of chronic kidney disease.
Diabetes - chronic kidney failure is linked to both Diabetes Types I and II. If the patient's diabetes is not well controlled, excess sugar (glucose) can accumulate in the blood. Glucose can damage the glomeruli. The risk of chronic kidney failure is higher among patients with Diabetes Type I. Doctors say that approximately 20% to 40% of patients with Diabetes Type I develop kidney disease by the time they are 50 years of age.
Kidney disease is not common during the first ten years of diabetes; it more commonly occurs between years 15 to 25 after diagnosis (of diabetes). However, as treatment methods improve, experts say that the number of diabetes patients developing kidney disease is falling.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) - high blood pressure can damage the glomeruli. Hypertension is a frequent cause of chronic kidney disease. Systemic hypertension causes direct damage to small blood vessels in the nephron. The kidneys lose their ability to autoregulate glomerular filtration flow and pressure, with resultant hyperfiltration manifesting as albuminuria and proteinuria. When the proximal convoluted tubule reabsorbs the excess protein, secretion of vasoactive substances further damages the glomerular-tubular apparatus. Nephron damage activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, resulting in increased sympathetic tone and fluid overload, which compound the progression of hypertension and nephron loss.
Obstructed urine flow - if urine flow is obstructed it can back up into the kidney from the bladder (vesicoureteral reflux). Blocked urine flow increases pressure on the kidneys, and undermines their function. Possible causes include an enlarged prostate, kidney stones, or a tumor.
Kidney diseases - including polycystic kidney disease, pyelonephritis, or glomerulonephritis.
Kidney artery stenosis - the renal artery narrows or is blocked before it enters the kidney.
Certain toxins - including fuels, solvents (such as carbon tetrachloride), and lead (and lead-based paint, pipes, and soldering materials). Even some types of jewelry have toxins which can lead to chronic kidney failure.
Fetal developmental problem - if the kidneys do not develop properly in the unborn baby while it is developing in the womb.
Systemic lupus erythematosis - an autoimmune disease. The body's own immune system attacks the kidneys as though they were foreign tissue.
Malaria and yellow fever
Some medications - overuse of, for example, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
Illegal drug abuse - such as heroin or cocaine.
Injury - a sharp blow or physical injury to the kidney(s).
At first the percentage of people who go for dialysis were between 13-25% but due to lack of education on it, there are about 46% of people going for dialysis. The percentage has increased drastically.
The machines at the renal dialysis unit are not enough, and also, some are spoilt.
Aside the process, patients are to pay a deposit of GHC5,000 before they start the process. Moreover, they need to pay another injection which causes more than 4million. Each month, patients are to pay a certain amount for dialysis. If they fail to do so, they would be stopped from coming (and it’s obvious they will die).
Of late, the youth are undergoing dialysis, as young as 6years.
I plead with the government to subsidise the fees and also the media and medical practitioners should help create awareness of kidney failure because it is equally important as any other disease, and also the percentage of people who do not know about it is very high.
JOSEPHINE ARABA AIDOO
ACCRA
SOURCES
American Diabetes Association. Clinical practice recommendations 2001. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(suppl):S69–72.
CATHERINE S. SNIVELY, M.D., and CECILIA GUTIERREZ, M.D., University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, California
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, Cushman WC, Green LA, Izzo JL Jr, et al. Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. The JNC 7 report [published correction appears in JAMA 2003;290:197]. JAMA. 2003;289:2560–72.
Excerpts from the United States Renal Data System’s 2000 annual data report: atlas of end-stage renal disease in the United States. Am J Kidney Dis. 2000;36(6 suppl 2):S1–137.
Kasiske BL, Kalil RS, Ma JZ, Liao M, Keane WF. Effect of antihypertensive therapy on the kidney in patients with diabetes: a meta-regression analysis. Ann Intern Med. 1993;118:129–38.
Levey AS, Bosch JP, Lewis JB, Greene T, Rogers N, Roth D. A more accurate method to estimate glomerular filtration rate from serum creatinine: a new prediction equation. Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study Group. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130:461–70.
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