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Volume 15 Number 9 | 50¢
March 2, 2016
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Be kind to your kidneys World Kidney Day, a global campaign that is recognized across the world with a wide variety of events and activities, is set for Kamloops with a free health fair on Thursday, March 10 at Northills Mall. Take a minute to consider your health and to commemorate this all too important vital organ. This year’s theme is ‘Kidney Disease and Children. Act Early to Prevent It!’. The purpose is to “encourage and facilitate education, early detection and a healthy life style in children, starting at birth and continuing through to old age, to combat the increase of preventable kidney damage including acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease and to treat children with inborn and acquired disorders of the kidney”. Just what do your kidneys do anyway? Kidneys remove toxins and excess water from your blood. Kidneys also help to control your blood pressure, to produce red blood cells and to keep your bones healthy. They control blood stream levels of many minerals and molecules including sodium and potassium, and help to control blood acidity. Everyday your kidneys carefully control the salt and water in your body so that your blood pressure remains the same. When kidneys don’t work properly, they allow waste and water to flow back into your blood stream instead of ridding the through your urine. This causes waste and water to build up in your body, which interferes with your heart, lungs, blood and bones. The most common causes of kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Allison Speller, third year nursing student, will be in attendance at Northills Mall on March 10 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. Three other third year students are working with Allison on this community project, Taryn
Christian, Talia Ollek and Brie Fehr. The Thompson Rivers University students are collaborating with the Kidney Foundation of Canada, the Kamloops chapter of the BC and Yukon branch, to organize the fair. These four are the main organizers of the event and will be overseeing the community project. First year students will be administering blood pressure checks and second year students will be at the glucose-testing booth. This is an excellent opportunity for these university students to connect with the community and have conversations about health and wellness with the public.
There are seventeen other health-related booths that will be in attendance at World Kidney Day including a renal dietician, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, hearing testing and School District 73 will be on hand to chat about healthy practices for children. Independent Grocers will be available to give cholesterol tests to the first 150 participants. The organization asks that you “Move your Feet”, as part of the initiative, so even if you can’t make it to Northills Mall, be sure to get outside, take a breath and move your body. It’s for a good cause…your kidneys will thank you! Alicia Ashcroft, freelance
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