University of Virginia Health System

NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES NEW DISEASE GUIDELINES

One in nine adults or 20 million Americans are affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD) and most don't even know it. More than 20 million others are at increased risk for developing CKD. According to the United States Renal Data System, the geographical area between Charlottesville and Richmond is above the national average for kidney disease.

In an effort to raise public awareness of kidney disease, the National Kidney Foundation introduced the new Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative (K/DOQ1) Clinical Practice Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 5. The guidelines are designed to educate patients and physicians about three simple tests to diagnose this silent disease in its earliest stages.

Kidney disease and potential kidney disease is a much larger problem than we previously realized, said Dr. W. Kline Bolton, professor of internal medicine and head of the Division of Nephrology at the University of Virginia Health System. We do know we can slow or prevent the progress of kidney disease if caught early. These guidelines are an important first step to increase public awareness leading to early detection and intervention.

The guidelines simply state that individuals with high blood pressure, diabetes, or a family history of kidney disease should ask their physicians for three tests that can be administered during a routine office visit: a blood test for creatinine (a waste product filtered by the kidneys); a urine test for protein (protein is a marker of kidney damage); and a blood pressure reading (high blood pressure is a cause and a complication of kidney disease).

It is important to undergo all three screening tests outlined by the guidelines because the result of creatinine test may be normal even with abnormal kidney function, Bolton said.

Symptoms related to kidney failure usually occur only in late stages of the disease, when kidney function has diminished to less than 10 to 25 percent of normal capacity. The condition of total or nearly total and permanent kidney failure is called end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and people with ESRD must undergo dialysis or transplantation to stay alive.

Statistics collected by the United States Renal Data System show that between 270 and 286 per million people in the state of Virginia have ESRD.

February 5, 2002