Patna, July 2: Seventy per cent of kidney patients reach hospitals late, as most of them are not unaware of the disease till it is in an advanced stage.

The Bihar Kidney Foundation formed by Paras HMRI Hospital has been conducting free awareness programmes on the first Saturday of every month to educate people on various kidney diseases and to help those suffering from related disorders.

"There has been a rise in kidney-related diseases," said Shashi Kumar, consultant nephrologist at Paras HMRI Hospital, today.

"Lifestyle disorder is one of the reasons. Those suffering from diabetes and hypertension have high chances of suffering from kidney-related problems and they also run the risk of suffering kidney failure. However, public awareness about kidney problems remains abysmally low."

"Moreover, there are a lot of misconceptions about kidney-related diseases. If doctors advise dialysis to any patient, then it is assumed that he/she will not survive for long, which is wrong. With good dialysis, a patient's life span can be increased to a great extent. Dialysis helps filter harmful wastes, salt and excess fluid from the blood. When kidneys fail to do this, dialysis is conducted on the particular patient."

Shashi said the Bihar Kidney Foundation also organised free tests for uric acid and creatinin among others. "But the free tests are not being organised regularly."

He also spoke about the hospital's plan to start kidney transplants. "It would take a month-and-half more to launch the facility," Shashi said.

"Our hospital happens to be the first private hospital to get a nod from the authorities to start the facility. We are developing the infrastructure for kidney transplant. Once the facility is launched, patients would not need to go hospitals in New Delhi and Calcutta to get their kidney transplant done."