Story by Nana Ama Gyapong.
Doctor Nii Odartey Lamptey who is at the Internal Medicine Department (Korle-bu Teaching Hospital) has disclosed that certain pain killers can cause the kidney to get damaged if taken regularly one of which is the Diclofenac drug. He made this revelation earlier this morning on GTV breakfast show.
Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). This medicine works by reducing substances in the body that cause pain and inflammation. Kidney diseases occur when the kidneys are damaged and can’t filter blood the way they should.
Doctor Nii Odartey Lamptey stated that Diclofenac paired with Paracetamol mostly done by manual workers when they feel pains in some parts of their body tend to damage the Kidney because they self medicate. He added that a medical practitioner would prescribe a Diclofenac drug for at least five to seven days but those who self-medicate repeatedly go back to purchase the same drugs when they begin to feel the symptoms again which is a very wrong decision.
He advised people to rather go to the hospital when they feel sick instead of self-medicating and also to desist from taking pain killers from their colleagues or friends whenever they do not feel well.
He concluded by saying that Kidney failure is real and the only way one can protect their kidney is by drinking more water, avoid self-medication both foreign and herbal drugs that are not recognized and pleaded with Ghanaians to assist the Renal unit at the Korlebu Teaching Hospital as well as the patients involved.
