By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, March 13, 2023 – You may have skipped the recent TCI Hospitals Kidney Screening Drive in Providenciales last Tuesday, but we have spoken with the local expert who may convince you of why you should make the time to attend the next one or even better, schedule a test on your own.

It is ‘alarming’ how Dr. Vancelee Forbes, Nephrologist at the TCI Hospitals, is describing the amount of TCI residents coming down with kidney disease. It is what sparked the screening drive, which had residents lining up an hour early.

For understanding, as many still fear attending doctor, here is what actually happens.

Whether you stop by the physical clinic or get your test done on the go by a mobile clinic, you will be administered a kidney function test, and this can come in many forms.

The US based Cleveland Clinic says most measure glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which simply refers to how efficiently your kidneys remove waste from your system.

In some cases, only blood is needed, and your healthcare provider will use a needle to collect a sample from you. A quick jab and it is all over. Your sample will then be tested and your results will be given to you.

Some tests use urine and in these cases, you may have to go to the bathroom and urinate in a cup. This may happen once or repeatedly throughout the day.

These can be take-home tests or on the spot. For take-home tests, you will get several containers that you will have to use when you go to the bathroom. You will then be required to drop them off at the Healthcare Provider’s office after 24-hours.

Same day results are typical.

If your tests are concerning then you may need to meet with a nephrologist like Dr. Forbes, who can monitor you and provide treatment options including lifestyle changes which can keep your kidneys functioning at a high level, eliminating the time-consuming need for dialysis; it’s also a very costly procedure.

You may have also skipped the drive because you are not convinced that you need a test. Even if you are not high risk for kidney disease, as it is with other non-communicable, there are symptoms to look out for, such as:

• Blood in your urine.
• Painful urination.
• Frequent urge to urinate.
• Problems when you start to urinate.

This is extremely important along with removing waste from your body and expelling urine, as your kidneys also produce red blood cells and help maintain your blood pressure. Kidney failure can affect multiple parts of your body in life-threatening ways.

“The good news is that kidney disease if detected early, can be treated to avoid the risk of progressive condition to kidney failure,” Forbes said.

If you are diabetic or hypertensive, it is really important to keep up with your tests, the TCI Hospitals doctor explained, as those two diseases are the number one and number two causes of kidney disease.”

Aldora Robinson, Director of the Health Promotions and Advocacy Unit of the Ministry of Health said they were extremely pleased with the initiative, “We have been looking at kidney disease as it increases in the Turks and Caicos islands,” she said “Dialysis is very expensive and as we move forward we want to encourage persons to eat healthier to exercise and live better lives.”

Robinson adds, in order to further that initiative the Ministry was happy to partner with agencies like InterHealth Canada and help raise awareness. She emphasized it was something that they should look at making part of their outreach efforts to prevent kidney disease across the country.