Looking after yourself includes keeping your kidneys healthy and having Kidney Health Checks. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 4 times more likely to have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and develop End Stage Renal Disease (ESRN). In remote communities ESRN is especially high, with rates almost 20 times higher than non-Indigenous people.
Getting a regular Kidney Health Check is important because often there are no warning signs for sick kidneys. That’s why kidney disease is sometimes called a ‘silent disease’.
Healthy kidneys:
- filter waste from your body
- keep good blood pressure
- maintain salt and water balance
- keep your bones strong
- help make strong blood.
If you have sick kidneys, your body can’t filter your blood properly and that means you can get really sick and even die.
When you go to the doctor for a Kidney Health Check, one of the things they will ask you is how you feel and how you live. They will also check your height and weight and measure the size of your waist.
Other things the doctor will do include:
- take your blood pressure
- check your blood
- test your urine (wee).
