A NEW study by researchers at University of Limerick (UL) offers solid support for the introduction of new national screening programme that targets high-risk groups and could bring hope to thousands of patients living with kidney disease in Ireland.
UL researchers also discovered, among other factors, that unemployed people have a startling fives times greater chance of developing kidney disease than their employed counterparts.
The research – from UL School of Medicine – revealed an extraordinarily high burden of kidney disease in older individuals in Ireland, particularly those that suffer from common chronic conditions, highlighting that women were 50 per cent more likely to have chronic kidney disease than men.
It also found that economic and societal factors had an influence – with medical card holders and unemployed individuals far more likely to have kidney disease.
The ground-breaking research has just been published in the Clinical Kidney Journal of the European Renal Association.
The study comes at a time when several new treatments have been shown to slow the progression of kidney disease, with potential for a major impact if prescribed earlier in the course of the disease.
Ireland has an estimated 500,000 individuals living with chronic kidney disease. Many are at significant risk of progressing to kidney failure and premature death.
Just over 5,400 of these individuals have already developed kidney failure and are receiving treatment with either dialysis or a kidney transplant.
The largest study of its kind in Ireland, the research explored in detail factors associated with kidney disease using data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging (TILDA).
It found that one in seven individuals suffered from chronic kidney disease in Ireland (14.7 per cent), aged 50 and over, and this increased to one in two individuals over the age of 75 years.
Women were more affected than men (17.8 per cent versus 11.5), a finding that persisted across all age groups.
A detailed analysis revealed that the burden of chronic kidney disease was far more common in individuals with common chronic conditions including pre-existing heart disease (33.9 per cent), diabetes (28), cancer (25.5), and bladder problems (23.7).
Similarly, chronic kidney disease was far more common in individuals with arthritis, hypertension, obesity, and chronic lung conditions, with one in five affected.
One in four holders of a medical card had evidence of kidney disease (25.5 per cent) as did individuals who were frequently hospitalised.
The study was led by Dr Meera Tandan, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Kidney Disease Surveillance System (NKDSS) at the UL School of Medicine.
“Chronic kidney disease poses a huge problem for the Irish population and exerts a significant impact on patient survival and quality of life,” she explained.
Professor Austin Stack, senior author on the study and director of the NKDSS, explained: “These new findings provide an enormous opportunity to the Irish health service to identify and screen these high-risk groups for early signs of kidney damage. Earlier detection of kidney disease will facilitate more timely investigation and treatment, leading to better outcomes.”
“There is a real chance that we can stem the tide of kidney failure and improve patient survival”.
