The well-heeled family of a renal failure patient that lived in its own house in Bagbazar, Kathmandu and owned a car until four years ago is now living in a rented flat.
"The man ultimately died but not before the family sold the house," said Dr Kafley. He said there are many such cases. [break]
Risks of renal failure are mitigated if people take timely precautions, doctors say.
"Health is wealth and those who are in good health are actual millionaires," said Dr Kafley, executive director at National Kidney Center. He said that spending millions of rupees cannot save lives after one is afflicted with some kidney diseases.
Dr Kafley said that most of us are not aware of the conditions of our kidneys. "When we learn about the problems, it is usually too late," said Kafley. He urged everybody to get their kidneys tested once a year.
The center said that kidneys can be examined by spending just Rs 100. Problems can be identified by examining level of albumin in the urine and cretin in the blood. He said that problems can be prevented if it is diagnosed early. He asked people to conduct annual health checkups.
"Risk will be reduced if problems like hypertension, diabetes are controlled," he added. He also asked the people to adopt active lifestyle and be conscious about eating habits. Kafley also asked people not to consume medicine without doctor´s prescription, especially, the antibiotics and painkillers, which affect the kidney.
The center said that several surveys conducted in the capital show that most of the people are unaware of the renal problems.
"Only those who have suffered are aware about the problem," said Dr Pukar Chandra Shrestha. He said that a person, who looks normal, might have some kind of kidney problems that surface only at a later stage when prevention becomes almost impossible.
Each year, about 3,000 people suffer from kidney failure. Doctors said that about 300,000 people in Nepal have some kind of kidney disease. Patients whose both kidneys have failed have to have a dialysis at least twice a week. Some private centers have been charging over Rs 5,000 per dialysis.
"Common citizens cannot afford the treatment so it is better to apply precaution measures." said Dr Shrestha.
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