One in five people aged 40 or older with the “three highs” — high blood sugar, high blood pressure and high cholesterol — have impaired kidney function, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday.
From 2021 to 2023, 11 to 13 percent of adults older than 40 have impaired kidney function, or about one in 10, HPA Chronic Disease Prevention Division Director Tseng Kuei-chin (曾桂琴) said, citing adult preventive health services data.
The risk rises to one in five in the age group for those with the “three highs,” while those with only high blood pressure or cholesterol face a one-in-10 risk, she said, adding that the findings underscore the importance of early prevention and management of these conditions.
Photo: Lo Pi, Taipei Times
However, since early chronic kidney disease is usually symptomless, it often goes undetected without screening, HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
Adult preventive health services offer screenings once every five years for people aged 30 to 39, once every three years for those aged 40 to 64, and annually for those 65 or older, she said.
Kidney function is evaluated through blood and urine tests, and results are presented using a red, yellow and green light system, helping people to understand their condition and how to adjust their lifestyle, she said.
Several lifestyle factors are also associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease, Tseng said.
For example, smokers are at about a 1.19 times higher risk compared with nonsmokers, while those who are overweight face a 1.33 times higher risk and those who are obese are at a 1.6 times higher risk, she said.
People with heart disease are at nearly three times the risk, and those with high blood pressure or high blood sugar are at 1.56 and 1.22 times higher risk respectively, she added.
About 90,000 people are on dialysis in Taiwan, with annual medical costs nearing NT$50 billion (US$1.57 billion), which could become a major burden on the healthcare system, Shen said.
Meanwhile, the number of people on dialysis in Taiwan is growing by about 10,000 annually, placing the nation among the top two worldwide in dialysis prevalence, said Chiu Yi-wen (邱怡文), head of the Taiwan Society of Nephrology and director of internal medicine at Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital.
The prevalence of chronic kidney disease in Taiwan is about 10 percent, similar to most countries worldwide, but many of them, less than 10 percent, are unaware that they have the condition, he said.
The progression of chronic kidney disease varies widely, as some people might experience deterioration within a few years, while for some, it might take 10 to 30 years to reach the dialysis stage, Chiu said.
However, if the “three highs” are not controlled, kidney function tends to decline much faster, he added.
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