Did you know that nearly half of Americans (46%) aren’t aware that having diabetes puts someone at greater risk for kidney failure? Nearly a third (31%) aren’t aware it also puts a person at greater risk of kidney disease.
Read about it here: kidney.org/news/new-harris-...
The survey is all well and good, but posting it here, while informative, is preaching to the choir. Most of the folks here know they have CKD. Sadly, many of us weren't informed until late stage 3 or early stage 4. Educating the public about kidneys and kidney disease is a great second step. A great first step would be to impress upon the medical community, especially primary care physicians, internists, and family practice doctors the need to inform their patients when they do normal tests that the patient is in the very early stages of CKD. Further testing and informing their patients of the steps available to slow the progression of CKD is imperative at this time.
Providing access via referral to a Renal Dietitian will give the patient a direction of where to go in planning and adhering to a kidney-friendly meal plan. Informing patients to look at their medications/dosages is another step in informing a person how to begin to be proactive and the primary member of their Care Team. Another interested party at this point would be to get the insurance companies on board to cover the costs then as opposed to much higher costs later.
Will this plan to be unveiled in March of 2020 include getting the medical community to inform their patients of their health issues while in the early stages? I for one, certainly hope so. Looking forward to Spring and this report coming in March.
Agree! Agree! with all you wrote, Mr. Kidney. Especially this:
"A great first step would be to impress upon the medical community, especially primary care physicians, internists, and family practice doctors the need to inform their patients when they do normal tests that the patient is in the very early stages of CKD."
Hi Mr Kidney, what report is coming out in March? I'm in the UK.
Please look at the original post made above by MichaelS_NKF and read the link at the bottom of the post. Administrators have a habit of posting items here but often there is little or no followup. I'd suggest you keep checking the NKF website throughout March to see if it is in fact posted then or if it is possibly delayed.
I couldn’t agree more strongly! My PCP never did diagnose me with CKD. I literally strolled around with CKD for approximately 18 months. My labs were bouncing around. My father had had CKD—I was one of his in home HD dialysis partners—so I had a pretty good idea what my renal panel data likely meant. And yet, even though I specifically asked my PCP whether I had CKD, he didn’t tell me. I’m fact, he refused to answer my questions. So I went through close to two years with unbelievably high stress knowing that something was off but none of my medical team having the courage to tell me. Ultimately I said to my new internist that I wanted answers whether they be good news or bad news—we couldn’t address what we refused to acknowledge or diagnose!
Really, what’s to be gained from not acknowledging this serious medical condition???
Jayhawker
Our story is, I believe the norm, not the unusual. I speak to a lot of new folks who have just found out they have CKD and will be speaking to groups of folks with Diabetes this winter and spring at a couple of Wellness Centers. They have never been informed of the possibility of CKD and related health issues. I'm going to give them information on reading and understanding their labs and provide websites that will help them learn what they need to know to get ahead of this chronic illness.
Thank you, MichaelS for providing this link to the article from kidney.org. Until this year, I had no idea of the important role kidneys play in overall health.
Until more public awareness becomes the norm and not the exception, I fear others will wait needlessly until being diagnosed at Stage 3 or 4 of CKD.
A bank here is offering a very large donation to one of numerous "worthwhile" associations. Our area kidney foundation is on the list and among the top 30 in the competition. The public can cast one vote/hour at the website. Many/most are also funded by our United Way. Our kidney org is not. Four clicks is all it takes to cast a vote. Can't get much easier than that.
Related to "Many Americans Don't Know About Kidney Disease Risk", I see red every time I hear an Advil ad. Cigarettes have a warning about lung cancer; shouldn't there be a warning on NSAID, that they could cause Kidney Disease?
Link to article about National Kidney Foundation partnering with HHS and ASN on public awareness of CKD. kidney.org/news/aakh-announ...
I didn't know that high blood pressure could lead to CKD even on medication until my eGFR dropped about 24 points in a year. Then my PCP referred me to a nephrologist.
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