Paediatric Nephrologist at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, Dr Tholang Khumalo says the number of children with chronic kidney disease, who end up in the end-stage of renal failure, is less.
Her comments come as South Africans observe World Kidney Day on Thursday.
Chronic kidney disease continues to affect people of all ages including children. Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 10 people are affected by this condition.
Kidney disease in children ranges from lifelong threatening conditions to other non-threatening treatable disorders.
There is also a significant backlog for kidney transplants, leaving a strain on those who have to undergo dialysis.
Khumalo says, “With respect to children specifically, fortunately the number of children with chronic kidney disease who end up in end-stage renal failure is less, we are looking at 10% of what the adult population is suffering through. However, with children it’s still quite a big number of them who end up with a broad range of disorders in kidney diseases.”
She says the size of the child does matter when it comes to doing a kidney transplant in children.
“If the child is very small, we are unable to give them an adult kidney sometimes. We do tend to wait for children to grown until they are about 10 kg or until they are big enough to take the kidney.”
In the video below, Dr Tholang Khumalo says children are higher up on the kidney transplant list:
Research
Research released in 2018 showed that women are statistically far more likely to donate a kidney to a partner than receive one.
Based on European data assessed, 36% of women donate a kidney to their husbands in clinically suitable cases.
That compares with just 7% of clinically suitable men donating a kidney to their spouse, said the study by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations.
It highlights how women are also liable to suffer from the most serious stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) as they tend to live longer than male sufferers and take longer to reach a stage requiring a transplant.
“Although it is hard to pinpoint a specific reason for higher numbers of wives being donors than husbands, the evidence suggests women are motivated by reasons such as altruism and the desire to help their family continue to survive,” said Adeera Levin, a Professor of Medicine at Canada’s University of British Colombia.
The study data shows some two-thirds of kidney transplant recipients are men although the gender difference was less pronounced for donations by deceased men and women.
Infographic about kidney disease:
Additional reporting by Reuters.
