News update:
Former National Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi, has died in hospital, according to EyeWitness News reports.
The 64-year-old was believed to have kidney disease and diabetes.
Reports are still vague as to why he was admitted to hospital, but speculations are that his death was as a result of kidney failure.
Eyewitness News reported that Selebi’s friend, Schabir Shaik, said he heard the news this morning.
“I believe he’s been in an induced coma for some time now, for about two-and-a-half weeks. He finally passed on between late last night and early this morning, I believe,” he was quoted as saying.
Shaik added: “I have good memories when I worked with him at [ANC headquarters] Shell House in the early 90s. I recall him to be a good comrade.”
Signs and symptoms of acute kidney failure may include:
*Decreased urine output, although occasionally urine output remains normal
*Fluid retention, causing swelling in your legs, ankles or feet
*Drowsiness
*Shortness of breath
*Fatigue
*Confusion
*Nausea
*Seizures or coma in severe cases
*Chest pain or pressure
Note: Sometimes acute kidney failure has no obvious signs or symptoms and is detected through lab tests that may be conducted for other reasons.
How to prevent it?
Again this goes back to the issue of living a healthy lifestyle.
Bad diet choices and habits like smoking and obesity are linked to an increased risk for kidney disease, suggests a study published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.
A group of investigators, led by Dr Alex Chang, of Johns Hopkins University, discovered that people with regular kidneys whose diet quality was bad – high in processed and red meats, sodium, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and low in fruit, nuts, legumes, whole grains, and low-fat dairy – were more likely to develop kidney disease.
Only around one percent of people without unhealthy diet or lifestyle choices developed protein in their urine – an early sign of kidney damage. On the other hand, 13% of participants who had at least three unhealthy factors such as obesity, smoking, and poor diet developed protein in their urine.
Longevity will unpack the details of Selebi’s death as more details become available.