25 August 2010
By Nozia Sayyed
City nephrologists place blame on high intake of processed food
Increasing consumption of processed foods has resulted in up to 15% rise in the incidence of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in recent years, according to city nephrologists.
President of the Nephrologists Association of Pune, Dr Abhay Sadre, told DNA that as against one case a month three years ago, now on an average six cases of CKD are being reported. This has been caused by the prolonged intake of processed food. "Chemicals in processed foods, such as potassium, phosphorus or melamine, are harmful for the kidneys and can prove fatal in the long run," he warned. His view was corroborated by senior nephrologist at Ruby Hall Clinic, Dr AG Huprikar, and Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital’s senior consultant nephrologist, Dr Tarun Jeloka.
Sadre said youngsters who are prone to consuming large amounts of processed food need to be warned about their harmful habits. Several cases of kidney diseases – among them kidney stones, fluid retention and kidney failure – have been detected in youngsters and linked to the consumption of processed foods, he said.
Another factor aggravating kidney diseases is the high salt content in foods, he said adding, "In view of changing food habits, we have even started taking down the food history of the patient (besides clinical history) as it helps in better diagnosis of the illness."
Speaking to DNA, Huprikar said the number of CKD patients has definitely gone up in the last four years and the rise...
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