Kidney Disease Surges in Gulf Job Seekers

Kathmandu-43-year-old Hari Karki, who lives in Jhapa, arrived in Malaysia in March 2007 for employment. In Malaysia, he used to work day and night. He was doing the same thing. Gradually, as time passed, problems started appearing in his health.

Hari started feeling sleepless and tired. He reduced his working hours saying that he might have health problems after working too much. There was no improvement in his health even after reducing his working hours. He started to continue with the hope that his health will gradually improve.

However, with increasing time, more complications appeared in his health. Hari started experiencing symptoms like nausea, difficulty in breathing, stomach ache, insomnia, swelling and tingling in wrists, bad breath. His friend took him to a local hospital for a health check-up after seeing problems with his health. After a physical examination at the hospital, the report that Hari's kidney was damaged was handed over to him.

When Hari, who had come abroad for work, was given a report of one of his kidneys being damaged, he felt as if he had fallen from a cliff. When the report came to hand, what should I do, where should I go? The only son of the family, the entire responsibility of the family was on me. After going to Malaysia and earning, everything was going on at home," Hari says, "But what to do? Within a year and a half of going to Malaysia, health problems started to appear. I suppressed the disease as it was. I thought that I would have to bear the pain in a foreign country, but I did not even imagine that the kidney would be bad.' 

Hari worked in Malaysia for about 3 years. After that, when his health problems did not improve, he returned to his native land. I was undergoing treatment in Malaysia. However, financial problems were added when he was unable to work. I thought that I would rather die in my own country than die in a foreign country, and I came to Nepal last year thinking that I would go home no matter what,” said Hari.

Ramlal Yadav of Dhanusha came to know about the failure of both kidneys a year ago. He had been living in Dubai for about 5 years. He came to the country due to complications in his health. He had high blood pressure before he developed kidney problems.

After returning to Nepal, both kidneys were found to have failed while being treated at Veer Hospital. I used to go to work in 15-16 hours, and the heat in Dubai is extremely hot. Initially, high blood pressure was observed. Gradually, I began to feel tired and weak," says Yadav. "Afterwards, I felt like I couldn't work.

The doctor used to suggest resting, paying attention to food, drinking a lot of water. After going to work, what would you remember about rest and food? He came to Nepal after his health did not improve. He is currently undergoing regular dialysis at Veer Hospital.
A study conducted in Lakshminiyan rural municipality and Chireswarnath municipality of Dhanusha district under the leadership of Barnmouth University in the UK has shown that kidney problems may be more common among Nepali immigrants who have returned from working in the Gulf countries and Malaysia than those living in Nepal.

The research included workers who had spent at least 2 years in foreign employment and returned within less than 12 months. A study conducted on them showed a decrease in glomerular filtration capacity to check the ratio of blood filtering by the kidneys. In the research, glomerular filtration was observed in 5.8 percent of workers returning from foreign employment and 3.6 percent in local workers.

Renal disease specialist of Narvik Hospital, Dr. Dr. Sumit Acharya says. According to him, in recent studies, people who have gone to Gulf countries for employment have started to have kidney problems.Recently, it has been found in various studies that there has been an increase in the number of people in Nepal coming to the hospital with kidney problems. There are various reasons for kidney failure, rather than saying that it is more common for people to live where they live," said Dr. Acharya says, 'It is possible that it was discovered early because of easy access to health care abroad.

However, recently there has been an increase in the number of people coming to the hospital due to kidney failure in Nepal.
If such symptoms appear, it may be kidney disease
In Nepal, only very few people know that they have kidney disease. Many people get kidney disease without knowing. Acharya says. Swelling of the body, a lot of abdominal pain, frequent urination, frothy urine, cloudy urine, etc. can be early symptoms of kidney disease. Acharya gives information.

"In addition to this, if you feel tired after walking a little, skin becomes dry, itches, high blood pressure, swelling of various parts of the body, the body becomes thinner, etc., you should go to the hospital for an immediate examination," he said.

Dr. According to Acharya, the kidneys work to balance blood pressure, remove excess water from the body, and balance sodium and potassium levels. Kidney problems can occur due to various reasons. He informed that due to hereditary reasons, cysts, water blisters in the kidneys, diabetes, high blood pressure, stones, taking unnecessary pain killers can lead to kidney problems.

Recently, diabetes and high blood pressure patients are becoming the main cause of kidney failure. Kidney problems are seen due to diet, unhealthy tax lifestyle, Dr. Acharya said, "Kidney problems have been seen among Nepalis who have gone abroad, especially in Gulf countries for employment. This problem has been seen in them due to lack of water in the Gulf countries, energy drinks and pain killers for general health problems.

Dr. If the cause of kidney failure can be found, attention can be paid to treatment soon. Acharya says. According to him, kidney problems with protein in the urine and blood in the urine are suspected. High blood pressure problem can be seen in people who are not old enough due to kidney disease. Some people may suffer from kidney failure due to taking only high blood pressure medication. He says that if there is high blood pressure, the kidney should be checked and the disease diagnosed and treated.

Dr. According to Acharya, the test is done by cutting a small piece of flesh from the kidney with sudden kidney failure. It is diagnosed by finding the cause of kidney failure. Such kidney problems are treated according to the disease. Similarly, if the kidney is damaged in the long term, dialysis and kidney transplant are done.

It is better to prevent the disease than to treat it after the disease. Acharya says. Therefore, people over 40 years of age should have a blood and urine test once a year, while diabetes and high blood pressure patients should have a yearly test. After testing like this, it will be known how the condition of the kidney is. Therefore, it is possible to avoid kidney disease and dialysis and transplantation," he said.

Dr. According to Acharya, many patients come to the hospital after kidney failure. According to him, patients are delayed in arriving at the hospital because they are not able to know when the disease occurs. "People do not know that they have kidney disease because it does not have a direct effect on the body like other diseases," he said.