What is kidney disease?
Your kidneys keep you healthy by filtering waste and extra fluid from your body. Kidney disease results from damage, over time, to the tiny structures inside the kidneys that filter blood. When the kidneys are damaged, they slowly stop doing their job and waste builds up in the blood, harming the body.

If kidney disease is not treated, it can lead to kidney failure. This means the kidneys stop working. Once the kidneys fail, a person must either begin dialysis or a get a kidney transplant.

Am I at risk for kidney disease?
You are at risk for kidney disease if you have:

• Diabetes or
• High blood pressure or
• Heart disease or
• A family history of kidney disease.

If you have any of these risk factors, talk to your doctor about getting tested for kidney disease and steps you can take to protect your kidneys.

How do I know if I have kidney disease?
Testing is the only way to know if you have kidney disease.  Blood and urine tests can detect kidney damage. Kidney disease often has no symptoms until just before the kidneys fail. Don’t wait for symptoms to talk to your doctor about getting tested.

What if I have kidney disease?
If tests show you have kidney disease, you can take steps to protect your kidneys from further damage. Talk to your doctor.

How can I keep my kidneys healthy?
You can keep your kidneys healthy by: (1) taking steps to prevent high blood pressure and diabetes, (2) managing these conditions if you already have them, and (3) getting tested if you are at risk.

Kidney disease is common, chronic and harmful.

• In the United States, 26 million people – 13% of the adult population – have chronic kidney disease (CKD), and millions more are at risk.

• More than 500,000 Americans have end-stage renal disease (ESRD), when kidneys fail and dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed to sustain life.

• 2007 Medicare costs for CKD in the stages that precede ESRD were $57.5 billion.

• 2007 Medicare costs for ESRD alone approached $24 billion.

• Texas is reported to have the third highest number of patients and the second highest expenditures for CKD in the nation.

• The U.S. has the third highest incidence (new cases) and prevalence (all cases) of ESRD in the world.

• The incidence of ESRD in Texas exceeds the national rate.

• Currently, 43,593 Texans are receiving renal replacement therapy to stay alive.

YOU or someone you know may be at risk.

• YOU are at risk for kidney disease if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or a family history of kidney disease.

• YOU are at increased risk for kidney disease if you are African-American, Hispanic, Native American or Asian/Pacific Islander.

Early detection is important because kidney disease can be treated and managed.

• In the early stages of kidney disease, there may be no symptoms.  Many people are not diagnosed until they are in kidney failure.  The only way to know if you have kidney disease is to get tested.

• Your doctor will do three simple tests: a urine test, a blood test, and a blood pressure measurement.

The earlier kidney problems are detected, the better chance you have of slowing the disease’s progression and managing its many complications, including premature death from heart disease or kidney failure.  Treatment is available.