Bean shaped Cyclothon 2.0 held by Manipal Hospital seals spotlight

Bengaluru: After the grand success of the first edition of the bean-shaped (kidney) Cyclothon, Manipal Hospitals organized a second edition - Cyclothon 2.0 across the 10 centres in Bengaluru. Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals flagged off the event at 7:00 am at Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road followed by Hospital Directors in their respective units across Bangalore.

The Cyclothon was joined by over 600 participants including doctors, 10 celebs, and 23 influencers from different domains such as Instagram and YouTube influencers, Radio Jockeys, sports enthusiasts, fitness experts, media, corporate leaders, and Resident Welfare Association (RWA) members, who participated and used their voice to spread the message of kidney health, preventive interventions, and enhanced accessibility to kidney care across the city. Prominent Sandalwood celebrities including Praveen Tej, Manvita Kamath, Vikky, Arun, Nagabhusana, Sonu Gowda, Vasuki Vaibhav, Shwetha Shrivastav, Kushee Ravi and Amrutha Iyengar stepped forward to support the cause. Divided into two loops covering 100 km, the Cyclothon was completed in 2.5 hours where the first loop covered 47 km, starting from Old Airport Road, passing through Millers Road, Malleshwaram, Yeshwanthpur, Hebbal, and returning to Old Airport Road. The second loop covered 53 km, starting from Old Airport Road, and on to Whitefield, Varthur Road, Sarjapur, Jayanagar, and back to Old Airport Road.

The Chairman, Manipal Hospitals, Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal said, "We have a large number of hospitals in different parts of the city that could connect the dots in the shape of a kidney. And what better form of awareness event could be other than a Cyclothon to promote kidney health? People like celebrities and influencers are ideal to create more awareness and this would be one such event where people from all domains could participate together for this noble initiative.

At Manipal Hospitals, we take great pride to host Cyclothon 2.0 at a bigger level this year, aiming to make a lasting impact for a better and healthy future for the current and coming generations."

The value of kidney health and care signifies the overall health and well-being of an individual. Doctors at Manipal Hospitals Bengaluru, have observed a concerning rise in the number of patients suffering from kidney diseases. Between January 2022 and February 2023, doctors attended 74,281 kidney patients, compared to 59,441 in the previous year. Similarly, there has been a surge in the number of living and cadaver donors. Compared to the last year, this year (2022-23) Manipal Hospitals saw an 18% increase in living donors and a 60% rise in cadaver donors.

The Cyclothon 2.0 concluded at Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road at 10 AM with a pledge to support kidney health where all the participants across units gathered together to celebrate the successful accomplishment of the event. This event also showed gratitude towards the collaborative efforts of nephrologists and urologists across all units, who tirelessly work together to provide the best possible care.