Manipal Institute of Nephrology & Urology along with Manipal Heart Institute has set up the cardio-renal unit to offer comprehensive services for both the heart and kidney. A dedicated Cardio-Renal package is offered to patients to carry out tests to check the kidney and heart at a subsidized rate.

Chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension affect both the kidney and the heart. However, significant measures need to be taken to spread awareness about the fact that any kind of kidney disease by itself is a significant risk factor for heart disease. Similarly, heart diseases cause worsening of kidney disease. Cardiologists and Nephrologists have jointly termed this as Cardio-Renal syndrome which is the close association between CKD (chronic kidney disease) and CVD (cardio vascular disease), stated Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, director, Manipal Institute of Nephrology, Manipal Hospital.

The unit will help to combat the epidemic of CKD and CVD and nip it in the bud before it becomes uncontrollable, he added.

Patients with kidney disease are more likely to develop heart disease and vice versa. Most people with kidney diseases die of cardiovascular disease well before they reach dialysis and the most common cause of death on dialysis is heart disease.

A Cardio-Renal symposium was held with leading cardiologists and nephrologists addressing the medical fraternity and general public on the issue and raised their concerns about the same.