Kidney & Urinary

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are bacterial infections of the bladder, urethra, or kidneys. They are very common — especially in women — and usually straightforward to treat.

Kidney stones are hard deposits that form in the kidneys from concentrated urine. They are very common in India — particularly in the hot, dry "stone belt" across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, north Karnataka, and parts of north India.

Kidney failure (renal failure) is when the kidneys can no longer clean the blood well enough. It can happen suddenly (acute kidney injury, AKI) or slowly (chronic kidney disease, CKD).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is slow, progressive loss of kidney function. In India, diabetes and high BP cause most of it, and CKD of unknown cause (CKDu) is a serious issue in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and some agricultural regions.

Dialysis is a treatment that does part of what the kidneys normally do — filtering waste and excess fluid from the blood. It is life-sustaining but not a cure; the kidneys themselves don't usually recover unless the injury is acute.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a cluster of symptoms — sudden urgent need to urinate, frequent urination, and often leakage before reaching the toilet. It is common — especially in older women — and under-reported in India due to embarrassment.

Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease in India and worldwide. About 30–40% of people with type 1 and 20–30% with type 2 diabetes eventually develop kidney disease — but good control and the right medicines can dramatically reduce that risk.

Kidney diseases include acute and chronic conditions affecting kidney structure and function. In India, diabetes and high BP cause most chronic disease; infections, stones, obstruction, and drug-induced injury account for much of the acute burden; and CKD of unknown cause (CKDu) is a growing problem in certain regions.

Urinalysis is a simple, cheap, high-value test on a urine sample — and an under-used screening tool in Indian practice. It can pick up urinary infections, kidney disease, diabetes, dehydration, liver problems, and occasionally malignancies before symptoms appear.

Kidney transplantation is the best long-term treatment for advanced kidney failure — far better than long-term dialysis in terms of survival, wellbeing, and cost over time. India has a well-established transplant programme with many public and private centres.