Diary 7: Take Care of Our Kidneys

The kidneys in our bodies play a very important role to sustain our lives.

The main function of the kidneys is to remove nitrogen-containing wastes (mainly urea) from the blood and adjust the concentration of various salts. Kidneys act as filters of the blood. They produce urine and eliminate it through the urinary system.

Chronic kidney disease is mainly caused by diabetes and high blood pressure, accounting for two-thirds of the cases.

Diabetes refers to too much sugar in the blood.

The cause of high blood pressure is often linked to a fairly high intake of salt, exceeding 5.8 grams daily.

A colleague of mine is currently in a government specialist hospital receiving treatment for his kidney problem. He has been warded for about 2 weeks. I went to see him a week ago. He should remember that over the last five years, I occasionally encouraged him to reduce his body weight when we met in the morning.

The truth is that obesity is often linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorder, stroke, kidney ailments, respiratory disease, gall bladder disease, osteoarthritis, hormonal abnormalities, nerve & eye problems.

Perhaps, many people feel that the medical doctors can solve their health problems.

It is better to think twice if you hold to this common perception.

Our health is decided by ourselves. Self-help in disease prevention is the best assurance in life. Not the medical insurance card you are holding.

For this reason, I advise another colleague, another obese person weighing 110 kg, to fast so that the extra kilograms may be reduced. The agreed target is losing 5 kg within a month. I share with him how he may do fasting. Let’s hope it works for him.