ROCKVILLE, Md., May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) announced a major expansion of its award-winning Know Your Kidneys program, providing people at risk for kidney disease and those living with kidney disease with comprehensive, interactive resources to support them through the entire kidney disease journey – from prevention to post-transplant.  

Providing a roadmap toward a better understanding of kidney disease and the steps people can take to improve their health, the new Know Your Kidneys was designed to be a customized experience—helping people know their kidneys, know their cause and know their plan.  

“Knowledge is power when it comes to preventing and living with kidney disease,” said LaVarne A. Burton, President and CEO of the American Kidney Fund. “We know that the path to a kidney disease diagnosis may not be clear cut for many people, and care plans are as varied as individual journeys. We have made extensive enhancements to this program to equip people with the evidence-based information and tools they need to take charge of their kidney health, which can in turn help us change the overall trajectory of kidney disease for the better.”  

AKF’s dedicated webpages to this program, available at KidneyFund.org/Know-Your-Kidneys, include resources that cater to the specific needs of each patient, as well as promote the importance of health equity and the impact of kidney disease on communities of color, who are at greater risk for kidney failure (end-stage kidney disease or ESKD). Visitors to the website will learn general information about the kidneys and how they work, and will be directed to one of three pathways based on their current kidney health:  

• Know Your Kidneys, which offers general information about kidney disease, prevention strategies, signs and symptoms to watch out for, risk factors and important tests to understand kidney health. This pathway includes an interactive tool that guides users to enter their lab results and other health information and then provides them with a personalized kidney health report. Lab results include estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which measures how well your kidneys are working, and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, or UACR test, which measures how much albumin and creatinine are in your urine. 

• Know Your Cause, which provides disease-specific content on possible causes of a person’s existing kidney disease, including diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), or a rare or genetic disease. Know Your Cause offers information about testing options, finding a genetic counselor and participating in clinical trials, as well as an interactive tool to guide patients on how to speak with their doctor about identifying the cause of their kidney disease.  

• Know Your Plan, which provides information to people who know they have chronic kidney disease or kidney failure and want more guidance on living a healthy life with their condition. This pathway offers guidelines on nutrition, physical activity and managing mental health, along with information about treatment options. There is also an interactive tool that enables patients to create a custom and actionable plan for managing their kidney disease.  

Kidney disease inflicts tremendous physical, emotional and financial burdens on patients and their families. Symptoms typically don’t appear until later stages, so 9 in 10 people with early kidney disease are unaware they have it. While damage to kidneys cannot be reversed or cured, there are steps people can take to prevent or slow down the damage and help them feel their best. The most important thing is to get routine blood and urine tests which will show doctors how well the kidneys are working and help to track kidney health over time. Once someone has reached kidney failure, they require dialysis or a kidney transplant to live.   

The Know Your Kidneys – Know Your Cause – Know Your Plan program is made possible with the support of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., Travere Therapeutics and Novartis.

Nancy Gregory
American Kidney Fund
(240) 292-7077
ngregory@kidneyfund.org