Bengaluru: Deaths from kidney and urinary diseases more than tripled in Karnataka over the past decade, rising from 5,940 medically certified deaths in 2016 to 18,730 in 2025, as per the latest report from Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD).Total medically certified deaths rose 8%, from more than 1.4 lakh in 2016 to nearly 1.6 lakh in 2025.Experts say the sharp rise comes amid an increase in risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. “I think it’s a combination of many risk factors,” Dr Deepak Chitralli, consultant nephrologist at Manipal Hospital, Yeshwantpur, said, pointing to lifestyle changes. Poor management of diabetes can result in kidney damage or failure, with 40% of patients facing this threat, he added.Kidney disease can set off a vicious cycle: impaired kidney function contributes to uncontrolled blood pressure and cardiovascular problems; cardiovascular disease worsens kidney disease.Chitralli also flagged unsupervised use of protein supplements, especially among youngsters. “Sometimes they end up taking products that aren’t certified. They may have substances which are toxic to the kidney. In the long term, they run a high risk of mortality,” he said.According to the MCCD report, diseases of the genitourinary system accounted for 18,730 medically certified deaths in 2025 — or 11.8% of all such deaths — making it the third-largest cause group after circulatory and respiratory diseases. The official category includes diseases of the urinary system as well as certain reproductive-system diseases.Renal failure accounted for the overwhelming majority: 14,960 deaths, or 79.9% of deaths within the category, equivalent to 9.4% of all medically certified deaths. Men accounted for 9,530 renal-failure deaths and women for 5,430. Other disorders of the kidney and ureter accounted for 2,068 deaths.The rise accelerated after 2018, with deaths increasing from 7,402 in 2019 to 9,884 in 2021, 13,569 in 2022, and 17,689 in 2024. The report says the share of genitourinary deaths has increased every year since 2012, barring in 2018, which saw a marginal decrease.Renal-failure deaths were concentrated among older people. Those aged 45 and above accounted for 87.8% of such deaths, with the 70-plus group alone accounting for 5,648 deaths, or 37.7%.The MCCD data covers nearly 1.6 lakh medically certified deaths in 2025, or 28.2% of all registered deaths. The report cautions that differences in medical-certification efficiency mean the figures may not fully represent mortality across the entire population.
