Demographics

Nearly 30 million Americans (1 in 8 adults) have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and most people are unaware they have it.
- American Society of Nephrology

CKD is 15% more prevalent in African Americans and they are nearly four times more likely than Caucasians to develop kidney failure.
- American Society of Nephrology

African Americans make up about 12 percent of the population but account for 32 percent of people with kidney failure.
- National Institute of Health

Among new patients whose kidney failure was caused by high blood pressure, more than half (51.2 percent) are African-American, and of those whose kidney failure was caused by diabetes, almost one third (31.3 percent) are African-American.
- National Institute of Health

CKD is 17% more prevalent in Hispanics and Latinos and they are twice as likely as Caucasians to develop kidney failure.
- American Society of Nephrology

Currently, more than 500,000 Americans have been diagnosed with kidney failure and require dialysis or a transplant. This number will grow by 50% during the next 20 years.
- American Society of Nephrology

The number of people diagnosed with kidney disease has doubled during each of the last two decades.
- American Society of Nephrology

Costs and Medicare Spending

Medicare costs for kidney disease are almost $72,000 per patient annually.
- Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch 2009

More than 25% of Medicare spending ($42 billion) goes to treating kidney disease.
- American Society of Nephrology

The annual costs of treating end stage renal disease (ESRD, or complete kidney failure) in the U.S. are currently $32 billion.
- American Society of Nephrology

Causes

The most common causes of kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure, together accounting for about 70% of new cases.
- National Institute of Health

The third most common cause is glomerulonephritis, a group of diseases that cause inflammation and damage to the kidney’s filtering units.
-National Kidney Foundation

Obesity is a strong risk factor for diabetes and hypertension and is known to triple one’s risk of chronic kidney failure.  Nearly two-thirds of US adults, or 129.6 million people, are overweight.  –American Society of Nephrology

Detection, Treatment and Fatalities

Early detection can help prevent the progression of kidney disease to kidney failure.  Three simple tests can detect CKD: blood pressure, urine albumin and serum creatinine.
-National Kidney Foundation

Dialysis is a life-saving process that artificially replaces the functions of the kidney.  Yet, even with the best therapy, the annual mortality rate for dialysis patients remains approximately 20%.  About two-thirds of all dialysis patients die within five years of initiating therapy, which is a survival rate worse than most cancer patients.
–American Society of Nephrology

In 2008 in the U.S., 77,675 people were on the transplant list awaiting a kidney.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Overall, renal transplants account for almost 69% of all solid organ transplants worldwide.
- Comprehensive Kidney Facts.com

More than 80,000 CKD patients die each year, making kidney disease America’s 9th leading cause of death.
- American Society of Nephrology