THUNDER BAY -- Kidneys are the body’s filtration system and it’s vital to keep them clean.
“We walk around as 70 per cent bags of salty water so if you think of your body as an aquarium, the kidneys are the filter,” said Armour Boake, a nephrologist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
“If you don’t clean the aquarium, it gets really gross really quickly. That’s what the kidneys do for our bodies.”
Thursday is World Kidney Day and the hospital along with the Kidney Foundation of Canada had a public information display set up in the health sciences centre lobby for the day to provide people with information on how to keep their kidneys healthy.
Boake said the prevalence of kidney disease is high in Northwestern Ontario because it’s often linked to diabetes and cardiac disease.
“We are unfortunately bursting at the seams,” he said.
“We are doing our best to try to educate and prevent and stop damage so that people don’t have to go on dialysis but it’s a very high burden.”
Kidney Foundation development coordinator Marion Harms said frequently people aren’t even aware of what the kidneys’ functions are and that’s why they were delivering the necessary information on Wednesday.
“It’s important to educate the public so they do keep their general health well to prevent kidney disease,” she said.
“It’s general health for staying healthy throughout your life so you don’t end up on a dialysis machine or needing a kidney transplant.”
To improve kidney health, there are eight points to consider:
· Quit smoking
· Monitor and control blood pressure
· Monitor blood sugar
· Eat properly and maintain a healthy weight
· Drink plenty of water
· Watch intake of over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen
· Check kidney function
· Keep fit and active
