How Important are Habits and Lifestyle Changes in the Chronic Kidney Disease Process?

OBJECTIVE: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a public healthcare issue that has reached epidemic proportions. Low levels of public awareness and early detection complicate the timely treatment of this disease. Awareness rate of patients with CKD is around 10% worldwide and below 2% in Turkey. Our study aims to emphasize the importance of public awareness, and to pave the way for more comprehensive studies. MATERIAL and METHODS: 308 respondents chosen randomly from various cities of Turkey replied to our survey. The survey consisted of 25 questions about participants’ demographic information, medical history, daily liquid intake, various habits and previous instruction on kidney health. RESULTS: Our findings indicate that a higher level of education was associated with greater awareness on health-related subjects. In addition, several factors known to cause kidney damage in the long term were identified. Among these factors, insufficient liquid intake, refusal to urinate outside of home, soft drinks, unnecessary use of drugs, and olive and cheese consumption were found to be especially prominent. CONCLUSION: It is clear that many factors that quicken the progression of CKD are present; and that awareness levels are quite poor. Our findings reveal the need for the conduction of larger-scale field research studies on CKD.