African Americans Kidney Disease Fact Sheet

African Americans are nearly four times more likely than Caucasians to develop kidney failure,
which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Kidney Disease in African Americans

■ An NKDEP survey of African Americans found that only eight percent named kidney disease
as a consequence of high blood pressure, and only 17 percent named kidney disease as a
consequence of diabetes. Of those surveyed who had high blood pressure and diabetes,
only 10 percent and 29 percent, respectively, identified kidney disease as a negative
consequence of not treating their conditions.

■ African Americans make up about 12 percent of the population but account for 32 percent of
people with kidney failure.

■ Among new patients whose kidney failure was caused by high blood pressure, more than half
(51.2 percent) are African American.

■ Among new patients whose kidney failure was caused by diabetes, almost one third
(31.3 percent) are African American.

■ African-American men ages 20 to 29 are 10 times more likely to develop kidney failure due to
high blood pressure than Caucasian men in the same age group. African-American men ages
30 to 39 are about 14 times more likely to develop kidney failure due to high blood pressure
than Caucasian men in the same age group.

Kidney Disease in the United States

■ Approximately 20 million Americans have kidney disease.

■ Early kidney disease has no symptoms. If left undetected, it can progress to kidney failure with
little or no warning.

■ By the end of 2003, more than 128,000 people were living with a kidney transplant, and
almost 325,000 were on dialysis – a number that has nearly tripled since 1988.

■ Public and private spending to treat patients with kidney failure in the United States in 2003
was $27.3 billion,1 up from around $22 billion in 2001.

■ The most common causes of kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure, together
accounting for about 70 percent of new cases.

■ By 2030, more than 2 million people will be receiving treatment for kidney failure.

■ Kidney disease can be effectively treated if detected early. ACE (angiotensin-converting
enzyme) inhibitors5,6,7,8 or ARBs9,10 (angiotensin receptor blockers) can prevent or slow
progression of kidney disease to kidney failure.

National Kidney Disease Education Program. NKDEP Survey of African-American Adults’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Kidney Disease. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2003. (Unpublished study)

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Black Children Less Likely To Get Kidney Transplant Before Dialysis Read More Minority children are less likely than white children to get a kidney transplant before their kidney disease gets so bad they need dialysis, U.S. researchers find.

Black Kidney Donors More Likely To Be Related To Recipients Read More A new study on living kidney donation finds that black donors are more likely to be related to their recipients than white donors are.

Gene Variant Increases Risk Of Kidney Disease In African-Americans Read More African-Americans with two copies of the APOL1 gene have about a 4 percent lifetime risk of developing a form of kidney disease, according to scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

Research Reveals Why Blacks More Prone To Kidney Failure Read More Black Americans are more likely than whites to have a condition in which the kidneys spill protein into the urine, which may help explain why blacks are four times more likely than whites to develop kidney failure, a new study suggests.

Younger Blacks Fare Worse On Dialysis, Study Finds Read More Researchers found that black patients younger than 50 years old who receive the blood-filtering process actually fare worse than whites.

Tracy Morgan Feels Great After Kidney Transplant – Dec 2010 Read More Tracy Morgan has confirmed he is “feeling great” after a kidney transplant back in December 2010 and was up and about just four days after the operation.