The number of patients on dialysis has more than quadrupled over the last decade
Diabetes and hypertension will become two of the major causes of kidney failure in Bhutan within the next ten years, say doctors. In developing countries like Bhutan today, infection however is still the major cause of kidney damage. But the rise of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension has doubled the risk.
“If hypertension and diabetes are not tackled, they’ll lead to kidney failure,” said medical specialist and dialysis physician at the Thimphu referral hospital, Dr Tashi Wangdi. He said that about 60 percent of diabetics are likely to suffer from kidney failure.
When the dialysis unit opened in Thimphu in 1998, there were only eight patients. Today, there are about 36 patients on dialysis. Dialysis is a process, which filters the blood of its toxic waste. Continue reading Lifestyle Diseases Double Risk of Kidney Failure