Vitamin C-rich food enhances immunity from kidney diseases, say experts

Mysuru:  World Kidney Day is a global health awareness campaign aimed at raising awareness on the importance of healthy kidneys. It is celebrated on the second Thursday of  March every year.

World Kidney Day aims to spread awareness about the role of kidneys in maintaining an individual’s health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney diseases and its associated health problems worldwide. The theme of current year is ‘Kidney Health for Everyone, Everywhere.’

As part of the World Kidney Day 2019, the Department of Studies in Food Science and Nutrition, Manasagangothri, University of Mysore (UoM), and the Mysuru Chapter of Indian Dietetic Association (IDA) conducted a symposium on ‘Medical and Nutrition Interface in Pulmonary and Renal Diseases’ recently.

The symposium was aimed at enhancing knowledge on the Nutritional Management of Chronic Kidney Disease, Kidney Transplantation, Chronic Respiratory Diseases (COPD) and association between Nutrition and Immunity.

Prof. Asna Urooj, Chairperson, Dept. of Food Science and Nutrition, who is also the Past President of IDA, Mysuru Chapter, welcomed the gathering and gave an overview of the event. She informed the significance and goals of World Kidney Day, global prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and its impact on quality of life.

In all, six Speakers addressed various issues in the symposium. Prof. S.R. Ramesh, retd. Professor, Department of Zoology, UoM, enlightened on the relation between immunity, infection and nutrition in Disease Management. He explained causes of inflammation and importance of immunity in prevention and management of disease and the role of Vitamin C-rich foods and their importance in enhancing immunity.

Dr. P.A. Mahesh, Pulmonologist, JSS Hospital, Mysuru, spoke on diet and its impact on allergies and asthma. He discussed the trends in asthma prevalence in and around Mysuru, factors causing asthma, significance of food diversity and its impact on gut microbiome on allergies.

Dr. Srinivas Nalloor, Nephrologist, Apollo Hospital, spoke on Kidney diseases with special reference to CKD – current scenario and future concerns. He gave an insight to newer trends in nephrology — wearable artificial kidney, bionic and tissue-cultured kidney.

In the afternoon session, Meenakshi Bajaj, Chief Dietician, Government Multi-specialty Hospital, Chennai, spoke about nutritional needs and management of kidney disorders. She highlighted the importance of maternal nutrition to prevent kidney disorders, risk factors for CKD and nutritional management of patients undergoing dialysis.

Chandan Vinay, Chief Dietician, ESIC PGIMSR and Model Hospital, Bengaluru, spoke on symptoms of COPD, nutritional components involved, their assessment and importance of clinical data assessments.

Suneetha Rao, Senior Dietician, NU Hospital, Bengaluru, discussed the nutritional intervention required in pre and post kidney transplants. She emphasised on weight management after the transplant with a few case studies.

The symposium was attended by faculty and students from Department of Mysore University, Yuvaraja’s College, Maharani’s College, JSS University, IDA Members, Dieticians from hospitals both from Mysuru and Bengaluru.  Others present were Prof. Shashikala Puttaraj, Prof. U.V. Mani. Concluding remarks were given by Dr. Sushma Appaiah, Convenor of IDA Mysuru Chapter and Nutrition Counsellor and Founder, Giggles of Livez (Golz).