Date Published: 10 March 2011

World Kidney Day - 10 March

10 March is World Kidney Day this year, 2011.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States has urged everyone to be kind to their kidneys!

This is a serious matter because kidney disease can lead to heart disease, and vice versa.

On World Kidney Day, Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., director of the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases asks people to consider the link between kidney disease and heart disease and what they can do to protect kidney health.

More than 20 million adults have chronic kidney disease and an estimated 16.3 million or roughly 7% of adults — have heart disease. Over 7.1 million people have both kidney disease and heart disease.

As part of National Kidney Month (March 2011), the NIH's National Kidney Disease Education Program suggests at least 10 things people can do to be kind to their kidneys and to look out for family and friends. At the top of the list is being tested for kidney disease if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or a family history of kidney failure.

To find out more about the other nine actions you can take to be kind to your kidneys at so reduce the liklihood of kidney disease visit: http://www.nkdep.nih.gov/KidneyMonth

While National Institutes of Health (NIH) programs help people understand their kidneys and how to protect them, NIH researchers and those supported by NIH are working to better understand why and how the kidneys become damaged and how to prevent kidney disease and improve care:

• In Nov. 2010, the Frequent Hemodialysis Network Daily Trial (NCT00264758) found that increasing hemodialysis to six times week from the standard three times improved heart health. Learn more at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/nov2010/niddk-20.htm.
• The Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort study (NCT00304148) is following nearly 4,000 adults to identify factors associated with rapid progression of kidney disease and the development or worsening of heart disease. What we learn from this study is expected to help us identify ways to intervene.
• The Chronic Kidney Disease Biomarker Discovery and Validation Consortium is developing blood and urine tests to better predict patients who will have rapid progression of kidney disease or worsening of heart disease.

More information about these and other NIH studies is available at www.ClinicalTrials.gov

Further Information:
More details about The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases visit www.niddk.nih.gov.

About NIH:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases - statement understood to be correct as of publication date.

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