It’s Time to Take Your Kidneys Seriously

It’s a new year, and time for a new you. Time to get healthy, right?

It’s not always that simple. We know that most people want to lead healthy lives that will prevent illnesses and keep their bodies functioning well. They just need the information about how to do it.

Your first step is to know your risks. Look around. If you see three people in the room, at least one of you could be at risk of life-threatening kidney disease and you need to know if it’s you.

What is kidney disease?
Kidney disease means your kidneys are damaged and losing their ability to keep you healthy. It causes more deaths than breast cancer or prostate cancer and is a public health crisis in America. It affects an estimated 37 million people in the U.S., an alarming number that has been rising for decades.

In the early stages of the disease, most people don’t have symptoms. But as it gets worse, waste builds up in your blood and makes you feel sick. You may develop other problems too, like high blood pressure, anemia, weak bones, poor nutritional health, and nerve damage. While these problems may happen slowly and without symptoms, kidney disease can lead to kidney failure, which can strike without warning.

Once a person’s kidneys fail, he or she will eventually need dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive.

Know the risks
Since kidney disease usually starts with silent symptoms, it is important to know the risks. If you have any of these conditions, you should talk to your primary care physician about kidney health:

Diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2
High Blood Pressure
Heart Disease
Family history of kidney disease
Obesity

Kidney disease is also more common among African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians than White Americans. Age matters, too. If you are more than 60 years old, you are at increased risk.

You are not alone

A new survey commissioned by the National Kidney Foundation found that patients with at least one of the five risk factors of kidney disease are willing to make behavioral changes when they know what to do but too few people have ever spoken to their doctor about it.

The poll was conducted in December by Kantar, a global data, insight and consulting company, and asked American adults about their knowledge of kidney disease and the five risk factors (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity or family history of kidney disease) which can lead to the illness. It found that Americans in general are not talking to their doctors much about kidney disease, though most respondents who had at least one of the factors did know about the elevated risk.

Information leads to changes
Kantar found that respondents were more apt to change their behaviors once educated about kidney disease and the severity; knowing that kidney disease could lead to dialysis or a transplant encouraged patients to take action sooner rather than later; two-thirds of patients who learned of this plan to visit their doctor within three months; and more than half plan to change their behavior.

The poll found that:

55 percent of respondents who learned that their comorbidity increases risk of developing kidney disease are likely or very likely to ask their doctor about it;
Knowing that kidney disease could lead to patients requiring dialysis or a transplant means that the majority of those at risk, 70 percent, are encouraged to take action sooner rather than later;
67 percent of patients are planning to visit their doctor in the next three months, and 52 percent plan to change their behavior.

Further, the majority of the responders, 59 percent, also said they wanted their doctors to give them direction on how to prevent kidney disease. While 61 percent of men are particularly interested in education about their risk factors and support in managing kidney disease.

Speak up at your next appointment
Unfortunately, 1 out of 3 respondents (34 percent) said they have never spoken to their doctor about kidney disease and only 18 percent said they had a recent conversation with a doctor about kidney disease. Women (42 percent) were more likely than men (25 percent) to have never had a conversation with a doctor about kidney disease.

Not surprisingly, younger respondents, 35-44 years old, were less likely to speak to their doctors about kidney disease, though they are more likely than older responders to change to healthier behaviors, the survey showed.

In the United States, 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease—and most aren’t aware of it. 1 in 3 American adults are at risk for kidney disease.

Kidney disease can strike anyone, young or old, and often has no symptoms until your kidneys fail. Your kidneys work 24/7 to keep you alive, keep you healthy, and help keep your blood pressure in check.

How big is the problem?
Kidney disease is the most under-recognized public health crisis in America. It affects 15 percent of the adult population; more than 1 in 7 adults and approximately 90 percent of those with kidney disease don’t even know they have it. About 80 million people are at risk for kidney disease. It is more common in women (15 percent) than men (12 percent). It is the 9th leading cause of death in the U.S.

Hundreds of thousands of patients received dialysis treatment in America every year and over 200,000 live with a kidney transplant.

Are there symptoms?
Most people do not have any severe symptoms or signs that they have kidney disease until the condition gets worse. While the best way to know if you have kidney disease is to get tested, you may:

feel more tired than usual
have less energy
have trouble thinking clearly
have a poor appetite
have trouble sleeping
have dry, itchy skin
have muscle cramping at night
have swollen feet and ankles
have puffiness around your eyes, especially in the morning
need to urinate more often, especially at night

What should you do?
If you fall into any of the risk categories, you should talk to your primary care physician about getting tested annually for kidney disease. Two simple tests, one common blood test and urine test, can help determine if you have kidney disease.

Ask your doctor about the “Kidney Profile,” the laboratory name of the tests that measure the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the blood and levels of albumin in the urine, known as the urine albumin to-creatinine ratio (UACR).

This combination of eGFR and UACR testing has been shown to be a strong predictor of kidney failure risk.
You can also speak to a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) about eating a diet that can help maintain your kidney health and maybe even slow progression of kidney disease.

Why does this matter?
Tragically, 12 people on average die every day waiting for a kidney transplant. Kidney disease costs America billions of dollars every year. In 2018, $114 billion in Medicare funds were spent on kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease, according to the U.S. Renal Data System.

Early awareness and detection are the keys to helping curb these sobering numbers.

What can you to do right now?

Take the NKF Kidney Health Assessment
Find a free health-check near you.
Make a doctor’s appointment.