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MANY PEOPLE WITH KIDNEY DISEASE STILL IN THE DARK
NEW YORK (March 11, 2005)
Verena Huetteneder
PR Manager
Nation Kidney Foundation
212-889-2210ext. 147
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Verena Hueteneder
Phone: (212) 889-2210 ext. 147
Email: verenah@kidney.org
MANY PEOPLE WITH KIDNEY DISEASE STILL IN THE DARK
NEW YORK (March 11, 2005) Nearly half of people with an advanced form of kidney disease do not know they have weak or failing kidneys, according to recent research published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation.
The earlier kidney disease is diagnosed the better, since knowledge enables patients to take steps to halt the disease's slow and steady march towards kidney failure. However, the researchers found that almost 45 percent of people with stage 4 kidney disease only one stage behind kidney failure had never been told there was anything wrong with their kidneys. Between 20 and 40 percent of people with earlier stages of the condition were equally in the dark about their health.
Moreover, nine out of ten people with kidney disease had seen a doctor within the previous year, and only around one-third who had visited a doctor knew their kidneys were failing.
"The National Kidney Foundation recommends that everyone who is at risk of kidney disease should be screened for the condition on a regular basis. Everyone who is disease-free should try to reduce any modifiable risks. If screening shows they have kidney disease, they must then take immediate action to halt the course of the disease before it progresses to kidney failure," says David G. Warnock, MD, president of the National Kidney Foundation and director of the Division of Nephrology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "This is something every American should know. Clearly, the message is still not reaching enough people."
According to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), more than 20 million Americans one in nine adults have chronic kidney disease. More than 20 million more are at increased risk for developing kidney disease, and most don't even know it.
The NKF classifies chronic kidney disease (CKD) according to stages 1 through 5, which represent how well the kidneys remove wastes and excess fluid from the blood. Stages 1 through 3 are considered mild to moderate forms of CKD; stages 4 and 5 (kidney failure) are more serious.
To investigate how much people at different stages of CKD know about their condition, investigators surveyed more than 9,000 people, checking them for CKD and asking them if a health care professional had ever told them they have "weak or failing kidneys."
The researchers also found that 40.5 percent of people with stage 1 CKD did not know they had kidney problems. Neither did 29.3 percent of people with stage 2 disease, nor 22 percent of those in stage 3 or 44.5 percent of those in stage 4.
Older people, men, African-Americans and people with a history of high blood pressure were more likely than others to not know about their conditions.
"People who have CKD need to be told they have it immediately, to enable them to live long, healthy lives with healthy kidneys," says Warnock.
The National Kidney Foundation is a major voluntary health organization, which seeks to prevent kidney and urinary tract diseases, improve the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increase the availability of all organs for transplants.
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