- Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension is largely to blame for the increased prevalence of kidney (renal) failure in the South Asian and African-Caribbean communities.
- It is 3-5 times as common, compared to the white Caucasian population.
- If there has been poor control of blood sugar and blood pressure through non-adherence to medication and diet, as well as ineffective monitoring, complications can develop and this can lead to kidney disease and kidney failure.
- Kidney failure is a terminal illness which has no cure but the treatment, such as dialysis and transplantation, is both onerous and expensive.
- Having kidney failure is devastating for both the patient and his/her family. It affects patients in many ways: physically, psychologically and socio-economically. There is a catastrophic impact on the patient's quality of life and longevity.
- Patients may have to have a form of dialysis that requires them to come into hospital three times a week for up to 5-6 hours at a time, and this treatment can be very difficult and leaves patients feeling exhausted. Patients have to adhere to a very restrictive diet: some are not allowed many fruits and vegetables, coffee, spices, and their fluid intake is usually no more than 1 litre per day.
- Dialysis treatment costs the NHS around £25,000 per patient per year.
- Patients can feel very depressed because of this long-term chronic illness. It can affect their ability to study, work, travel abroad, and often affects their fertility. Many things that most of us take for granted.
- Although kidney disease is a disease of older age, it can and does affect people, men, women and children of all ages. The problem is set to worsen as the relatively young African-Caribbean and South Asian population ages.
- The tragedy is that some of this kidney disease is preventable, or could at least be delayed through early monitoring and good control.
- Kidney Research UK, a registered charity, has launched the ABLE Programme in an attempt to address these issues.
Downloads
Click here to download our leaflet about kidney disease targetting the African Caribbean communities.
Disclaimer
The ABLE website has been designed to provide information to patients, the public and healthcare professionals. We have endeavoured to provide accurate information. The website is not designed to provide advice to individual patients. For such advice patients should contact their doctor.
