A website (www.sugarbp.org) aiming to raise awareness on the detection of kidney disease was launched. The website seeks to help the layman understand the nexus between high blood pressure (BP) and diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dr.Rajan Ravichandran outlined diabetes and high blood pressure as two of the commonest causes of CKD. People predisposed to hypertension or who were diabetic could ill afford to wait for symptoms of CKD as the condition was asymptomatic in its early phases. While urine volume in itself was not a pointer to the state of kidneys, an evaluation of protein leak in urine was a simple accurate indicator of renal trouble and could even be done at home. Launching the website, actor Kamal Haasan urged the public not to wait for magic substitutes (for sugar or salt) and to adopt preventive steps against blood pressure and diabetes. He pledged his support to the public interest initiative which he hoped would help reduce the burden of CKD and other chronic disease.
