INTRODUCTION

On Thursday, March 10, 2011, Bermuda is recognizing World Kidney Day. The Department of Health, the Bermuda Hospitals Board, and the Bermuda Diabetes Association want you to Love Your Kidneys! If you have diabetes, hypertension, or a family history of kidney disease you are at risk of kidney failure.

LOVE YOUR KIDNEYS

How well do you know your kidneys?  Do you know the kidneys are essential to life?  They perform many life sustaining functions  by filtering approximately 200 quarts of blood a day. If the kidneys' ability to filter the blood is critically damaged by disease, wastes and excess fluid may build up in the body.  Chronic kidney disease is a slow, progressive loss of kidney function that can result in permanent kidney failure. The  condition is common and is often not diagnosed until the problem is severe and kidney failure is imminent. Permanent kidney failure is not curable; it is treated with dialysis or a kidney transplant, therefore it is essential to diagnose and treat the condition early.

In Bermuda, as in other countries people with persistently high blood pressure or diabetes are at greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease.  The majority of those being treated in Bermuda by dialysis for kidney failure is due to high blood pressure and/ or diabetes.  In some of these cases the onset of kidney failure may have been prevented or delayed if these conditions were better managed.

Click the links above for more information on chronic kidney disease, diabetes. Or, email us at healthpromotion@gov.bm.