People with hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are three times more likely than those without to develop pre-end-stage-renal disease (ESRD) — in which kidneys do not function — the Health Promotion Administration said.
A 2007 survey on hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia found that one in 10 Taiwanese aged 20 or above suffered from chronic kidney disease (CKD).
A total of NT$31.8 billion (US$1.04 billion) of National Health Insurance payments, or 5.7 percent of the National Health budget, was made available for dialysis treatment last year, the agency said.
Agency Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said that high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood cholesterol level, or the “three highs,” not only cause CKD, but are also complications that result from the disease, asking people with hypertension and diabetes to take medication to stave off dialysis.
The new disease prevention services offered for adults and launched in 2011, have incorporated the calculation of estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR), the agency said.
Health examinations in 2012 showed that, of the 1.54 million people aged 40 or above, who underwent the checks, nearly 85 percent of those without the “three highs” had normal renal functions, with the percentage decreasing progressively when people were affected by two or all of the “three highs.”
Further analysis found that those with at least one of the “three highs” also suffered from early CKD and pre-ESRD, the agency said, adding that age is also a risk factor. The prevalence of pre-ESRD among people aged 65 or above with the three highs was 18.3 percent, which is 3.5 times higher than that of their counterparts aged 40 to 64.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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