Pharmacy Program Enables Home Checks for Kidney Disease

Kidney Health Australia has released a new report on kidney disease in Australia, and  announced a pharmacy program to help those at increased risk identify the disease early.
The State of the Nation: Chronic Kidney Disease in Australia report, launched duringKidney Health
Week, highlights that while 1 in 10 adults have been shown to have kidney disease, only 1 in 100 know they have it.
“More than 5 million Australians don’t know that they are at increased risk of developing kidney
disease, despite already having one of the two leading causes of the disease - diabetes or high blood
pressure,” Anne Wilson, CEO Kidney Health Australia explained.
“Chronic kidney disease is common and harmful, but it is preventable; early detection really does
save lives.
“Kidney Health Australia believes community pharmacy can play an important role in risk
assessment for chronic kidney disease,” said Ms Wilson.“Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease isn’t always recognised by health professionals and many people go undiagnosed until it is too late,” continued Ms Wilson, “As the peak body for kidney disease, Kidney Health Australia believes we have an obligation to address this gap in early detection and management at the primary care level”.
A world-first pharmacy program, the KidneyCheck Program allows people at increased risk of kidney
disease to monitor the health of their kidneys in the privacy of their own home, by using a self-testing
strip to check their urine for protein - one of the first signs of kidney damage.
The results from the self-testing strip are compared to the indicator chart provided and, if abnormal, are
a prompter for people to request a full kidney health check from their GP.
“We need to do more to boost early detection efforts in the community – the striking statistics in our
latest report make that clear,” said Ms Wilson.
The report reveals that there has been a 130% rise in end stage kidney disease (ESKD) – where the
patient receives dialysis or a transplant – due to diabetes in the last decade.
In addition, it shows that one in five people with high blood pressure have chronic kidney disease
(CKD), whilst half of all CKD patients have high blood pressure, and are 20 times more likely to die
from a heart attack or stroke than they are to progress to the point of dialysis or transplantation.
A gender gap in chronic kidney disease has also been revealed, with statistics showing that it
predominantly affects men; males over the age of 45 are 1.5 times more likely than women to
develop chronic kidney disease, and men are more likely than women to die from kidney failure.
THE STATE OF KIDNEY DISEASE IN AUSTRALIA
• 1 Australian dies every 25 minutes with kidney-related disease
• Diabetes is the single greatest risk factor for kidney disease that leads to dialysis or transplant
• 1 in 5 people with high blood pressure have chronic kidney disease (CKD)
• 1 in 2 people with CKD also have high blood pressure
• 63% of people with CKD are overweight or obese
• 56 Australians die with a kidney-related disease every day
• It is possible to lose up to 90% of kidney function before experiencing any symptoms
• 20,766 Australians currently depend on dialysis to stay alive
• 25% of all Australian men aged 65-74 have chronic kidney disease
• Men are more likely than women to die from kidney failure
• Someone with CKD is up to 20 times more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than they
are to progress to end stage kidney disease (ESKD) requiring dialysis or transplant
• For those that do receive a transplant or go onto dialysis, the survival rate at five years is worse
than most common cancers