Are You At Risk For Chronic Kidney Disease?

You know when you have a headache, sore throat, a cold, or the flu. But do you know if you have chronic kidney disease (CKD), a potentially fatal condition that is often called “the silent disease” because it frequently is not detected until it has reached the later stages?

March is National Kidney Month, the perfect time to take a simple test from The National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut. Check any of the statements below that apply to you:

éYou have diabetes;

éYou have high blood pressure;

éYou have a family history of chronic kidney disease;

éYou are 60 years of age or older;

éYour ethnic background is African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Pacific Islander.

The above are risk factors for CKD. If you checked off any of them, you may have CKD.

Healthy kidneys balance a body’s fluids by filtering and releasing wastes and excess fluids from the body as urine; regulate the body’s water level and important minerals in the blood such as sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium; remove drugs and toxins from the body; and release hormones into blood that controls blood pressure, makes red blood cells, and keeps bones healthy. When a person has chronic kidney disease, their kidneys can no longer perform these functions properly.

According to the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, one in nine Americans has CKD, but many do not know it. Another 20 million are at increased risk of developing the disease, says the foundation.

The leading causes of CKD are diabetes and high blood pressure. Diabetes increases pressure inside the kidney’s filters. Over a period of time, this pressure damages the filters, which then leak protein into the urine.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, means that the pressure of blood against the walls of blood vessels increases. If left untreated, hypertension can lead to CKD, heart attacks, and strokes.

Among the leading reasons that African Americans, Hispanics, Asian, and Pacific Islanders are at increased risk for kidney disease is that diabetes is more common in these groups than in the population at large. And African Americans experience a higher incidence of high blood pressure. These groups may have an inherited tendency to develop these diseases.

More clues as to whether a person may have CKD are the following symptoms:

éfatigue, a loss of energy;

époor appetite;

édifficulty sleeping;

édry, itchy skin;

émuscle cramping at night;

éswollen feet and ankles;

épuffiness around the eyes, particularly in the morning;

éthe need to urinate more often, especially at night; and

éunexpected weight loss or gain.

If you have any of the risk factors or symptoms here, see your doctor immediately for tests, including blood pressure, blood and urine tests that can determine how your kidneys are functioning. If left uncheck, CKD can lead to cardiovascular disease, among other serious health problems, as well as kidney failure. It can even be fatal.

To learn more, contact the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut at 860-257-3770 or visit kidney.org.