Nollywood actress, Ufoma McDermott has revealed that her stage four kidney disease was caused by prolonged misuse of strong painkillers due to migraines and headaches. In a recent episode of the WithChude podcast, she disclosed that her kidney disease Ufoma, 43, said she found out about the cause after she and her brother were both diagnosed with kidney disease, sparking fears that it might be genetic.
“I really wish everyone would understand the importance of health. My brother was diagnosed late on Stage 4 of kidney disease and he goes straight into dialysis and has complications. I was diagnosed earlier. So I have lived on medication for almost 12 years now. When my brother got diagnosed, I ran to my cardiologist. My parents were scared, thinking if this was genetic. We had to trace the kidney disease and we learned it was from drug abuse,” she said.
The actress sadly lost her brother to kidney failure in 2017.
“I grew up with migraines, headaches, and eye aches, and I never wore my glasses because they made me look like a geek. I would take painkillers for my migraine. I took strong painkillers and not the ordinary painkillers because I wanted the pain to go away” -talking about the genesis of the life-threatening disease she has been battling.