Helpful Statistics About Kidney Disease in the US

picture-of-kidneysThis March is National Kidney Month here in the US so we thought now would be a great time to discuss the importance of kidney health. The kidneys are a vital organ and healthy, functioning kidneys are absolutely essential for maintaining overall health and wellness. Unfortunately, kidney disease is very common for adults in the US, especially those with certain risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, advanced age, or a family history of kidney issues. This is why awareness is so important. In order to help our patients understand the importance of taking a proactive approach to kidney health this March and beyond, the healthcare providers here at Abraham Family Medicine wanted to provide some informative statistics about kidney disease courtesy of the National Kidney Foundation.

  • 15% of adults in the US (about 37 million people) are affected by chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition where the kidneys become damaged over time and cannot effectively clean the blood as well as healthy kidneys should.
  • Over 2 million people worldwide currently receive treatment with dialysis, though the overwhelming majority of this 2 million live in the US, Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Italy.
  • In the US, treatment of CKD costs nearly $48 billion each year.
  • Nearly 90% of adults with CKD are not aware of their condition.
  • People aged 65 years or older account for 38% of CKD cases in the US, significantly higher than any other age group.
  • CKD is slightly more prevalent in women (15%) than in men (12%).
  • As of 2016, about 125,000 people in the US start treatment for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) annually.
  • More than 726,000 Americans are currently on dialysis or are living with a kidney transplant.
  • About 38% of ESKD cases in the US are caused by diabetes and about 26% are caused by high blood pressure.
  • The rate of new cases of ESKD is the lowest since 1998.

The most important steps we recommend taking for anyone serious about promoting good kidney health is taking good care of your body, making healthy choices, and discussing kidney health with your healthcare provider during annual wellness visits. For more information or if you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact Abraham Family Medicine today. We offer a wide variety of general healthcare services for people of all ages at our Snellville office, not far from Grayson, Lilburn, Lawrenceville, and Loganville.