• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Study: U.S. Kidney Failure Rates Stabilize

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

The National Institutes of Health in Washington report rates for new cases of kidney failure have ended 20 years of up to 10 percent annual increases.

Although racial disparities persist, research by the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases shows there were 338 new cases of kidney failure per million population during 2003, down slightly from 2002 and continuing a 4-year trend.

The average annual increase has been less than 1 percent since 1999, compared with an average 5 percent during the previous decade, the U.S. Renal Data System reported.

Diabetes and high blood pressure remain the leading causes of kidney failure, accounting for 44 percent and 28 percent of all new cases, in that order.

The most striking trends were found in diabetes, where rates of new cases among whites under age 40 were the lowest since the late 1980's, in contrast to rates for African-Americans, which remained steady.

Researchers say credit for recent gains likely goes to clinical drug strategies proven in the 1990s to significantly delay or prevent kidney failure.

The research will be presented next month during the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology.

Source: United Press International

More News in this Category