It’s World Kidney Day 2010 – a global health awareness campaign focused on the importance of kidneys and prevention of kidney disease. According to www.world kidneyday.org, “Many people are currently not aware that their kidneys are damaged and they might find out too late. Dialysis and transplantation can be prevented if kidney diseases are detected early.” Here are some more interesting facts from the site:
- Diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
- There are currently over 240 million people with diabetes worldwide. This figure is projected to rise to 380 million by 2025.
- The number of people with renal replacement therapy have increased from 426,000 in 1990 to 1.5 million in 2000 and is expected to rise to 2.5 million by 2010.
Did you know also know there are more than 83,000 people in the United States currently on the kidney wait list? As members of our new transplants community can tell you, it can be a long and trying journey to get a new organ. (Watch this video to learn more about our transplants community which launched earlier this week.)
Let’s raise awareness of the risk factors for kidney disease. And thanks to all of you who are healthy enough to be donors. Your kidney could save someone’s life some day.
