 Good morning. I am Dr. Deepak Kumar Chitrali, consultant nephrologist and transplant physician at Manipal Hospital, Ashwantur. Warm regards on occasion of this World Kidney Day. Today, let us briefly understand about something which is really important in kidney disease, that is prevention of kidney disease. Now, when we speak about prevention, various questions arises like how can we prevent kidney disease? Now, the first and the foremost thing is it can be prevented only if it is diagnosed early or when the kidney disease is diagnosed pretty early in the course of the disease. Or we identify certain precursors of kidney disease early so that we can go a long way in preventing developing kidney disease. Now, what are the steps of prevention? The first and the foremost is how to identify a kidney disease? How do we identify? Anyone above and over the age of 40 years has to undergo general hand-held checkup which will give us an idea about a lot of precursors which can lead to kidney disease in future. These precursors are it could be hypertension, it could be diabetes, it could be cardiovascular diseases, it could be obesity, it could be dyslipidemia or the bad cholesterol. Now, all this can lead to kidney disease in future. So, diagnosing them early, detecting them early, having a proper treatment with respect to control of sugars, control of blood pressure, control of weight, managing cardiovascular diseases, treating hyperlipidemia or bad cholesterol will help in preventing kidney disease in future. Now, the other important thing is why only general hand-held checkup at 40 and above? Hand-held checkups can be done much, much earlier for somebody who has got family history of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidemia or obesity. So, in them, hand-held checkup has to be done much, much earlier to detect any precursor for this kidney disease. The other important thing is over-the-counter medications, particularly medicines like strong doses of NSAIDs or painkillers which are taken by so many people day in and day out sometimes for various conditions. This can lead to serious kidney problems. So, it's really important not to take these medications without a proper prescription or a proper supervision from the concerned doctor. Also, the fact that nowadays, a newer protein supplement or the health capsules which are also coming into the market, these, when taken without any proper monitoring or when the caution is not exercised in terms of how much amount has to be taken can lead to serious kidney problems. So, it is important to exercise caution in that aspect as well. Now, last but not the least, lead a balanced life with a healthy diet, drink plenty of water, avoid smoking, keep yourself within the accepted BMI limits, have a healthy body weight, have a healthy life and keep your kidneys safe. Thank you.