Barry I. Freedman, M.D., reports that many relatives in these families have silent kidney diseases that can be treated at early stages, leading to slowed progression or prevention of future dialysis treatments or kidney transplants.
"Physicians caring for patients with chronic kidney disease should consider focusing screening efforts on high-risk family members in an attempt to slow the exponential growth rate of kidney failure," said Freedman, nephrology section head.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the rate of end stage kidney disease jumped from 219 persons per million in 1991 to 334 per million in 2000.
"Family members of individuals with chronic kidney disease also have an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes, excess protein in the urine, and undetected kidney disease," Freedman said. Excess protein in the urine is a sign that kidney disease is present and also a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
The study was based on dialysis patients in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, which comprise End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network 6 of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, one of 18 ESRD Networks in the United States. As of Dec. 31, 2003, Network 6 had 28,980 patients with end-stage kidney disease, the largest total among all 18 ESRD Networks and "accounting for approximately 7 percent of the U.S. population of individuals receiving renal replacement therapy," Freedman said.
The researchers from Wake Forest, Emory University and ESRD Network 6 undertook the largest study of its type ever performed, collectin
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Contact: Robert Conn
rconn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4587
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
1-Nov-2005