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For quick facts on caregiving, go to Second Opinion, Caregiver Burnout (Episode 507)
For quick facts on end-of-life planning, go to Second Opinion, End of Life (Episode 313)
- The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) estimates that:
- 20 million Americans – one in nine adults - have chronic kidney disease (CKD).
- More than 400,000 Americans have end-stage renal disease and require dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive.
- Over 50,000 patients are waiting for transplants but only about 14,000 will receive them due to a shortage of suitable donors.
- Kidney disease is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States due to increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, and an aging population. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports:
- The number of people on kidney dialysis or who have had a kidney transplant due to failure has doubled each decade for the past two decades.
- The number of people with end-stage renal disease will surpass 660,000 by 2010 and reach 2.24 million by 2030.
- Many diseases can damage the kidneys.
- People with diabetes, hypertension or a family history of kidney disease are at high risk for kidney disease.
- African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics/Latinos develop diabetes, CKD, and kidney failure at rates higher than Caucasians. Scientists have not been able to explain these higher rates.
- Kidneys are very adaptable. Even when most of a kidney is not working the remaining portion will increase its activity to compensate for the loss. It is possible to lead a healthy life with just one kidney instead of the normal two.
- Symptoms of chronic kidney disease usually develop slowly. Many people with impaired kidney function are not diagnosed until after their kidneys fail.
- There is no cure for chronic kidney disease. The four goals of therapy are to:
- Slow the progression of disease
- Treat underlying causes and contributing factors
- Treat complications of disease
- Replace lost kidney function
- Ultimately, chronic kidney disease progresses to kidney failure in most people. The rate of decline in kidney function depends somewhat on the underlying disorder causing the kidney failure and on how well it is controlled.
- Kidney failure is when your kidneys stop working well enough for you to live without dialysis or a kidney transplant. There are two kinds of kidney failure:
- Acute renal failure
- End-stage renal disease (ESRD)
- Strategies for slowing progression and treating conditions underlying chronic kidney disease include the following:
- Control of blood glucose
- Control of high blood pressure
- Diet
- Smoking cessation
- Survival when kidney failure is severe (end-stage kidney failure) is usually limited to several months in people who are not treated, but those who are treated with dialysis or who receive a kidney transplant can live much longer.
- Your kidneys are not solitary organs. When your kidneys are harmed or begin to malfunction, other organs are severely affected.
- People with chronic kidney disease are at a much higher risk than the general population to develop strokes and heart attacks.
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