Living with type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure?
You could have kidney disease without even knowing it. It takes 2 – you and a healthcare professional – to detect kidney disease and take steps to help reduce serious complications.
Ready to spot kidney disease?
First let’s learn kidney disease by the numbers
adults in the U.S. have kidney disease
of people with kidney disease do not know they have it
of kidney disease cases are caused by type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure
It Takes 2 – A New Spin on the ‘80’s Hit for Kidney Health
Most people that have kidney disease don’t even know it. Rob Base may have said it best: “It takes two to make a thing go right” – and that applies to managing your kidney health too. The musical artist rewrites his 1980’s hit song to bring attention to the importance of testing and early diagnosis of kidney disease and remind at-risk patients that It Takes 2 – you and a healthcare professional – to detect kidney disease and help reduce long-term complications.
It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it outta sight. I wanna talk right now. I’m Rob Base and I’m back to throw down. Now, I’m internationally known. Rocking wisdom from the microphone. These health conditions. Let’s put attention to this mission. You gotta just listen. People with no symptoms to show. Could have kidney disease – and not know. Follow the advice, don’t neglect it. Gotta make the effort to detect it ‘cause. It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it outta sight. It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it outta sight. I got a message that I wanna to share. Stop a minute, listen up, you gotta care. No matter what you gotta do what’s best. It all starts with an extra test, yea. If you think I’m wrong, you’re a doubter. Reach for that test ‘cause knowledge is power. Early detection is important. Gotta be smart let’s go and make sure everything’s all right. Cause it takes two to make it out of sight, come on. It takes two to make a thing go right. It takes two to make it outta sight.
Kidney disease impacts people
differently at different rates
Minority communities are disproportionately burdened by kidney disease. These communities are likely to
have a greater incidence of risk factors for kidney disease and have disparities in primary care.
As a result, when compared with white Americans:
Black Americans are 3x more likely to have kidney failure
Latin Americans are 1.3x more likely to have kidney failure
Black and Latin Americans are less likely to receive a kidney transplant
Professional guidelines recommend that healthcare professionals screen for kidney disease using two tests: eGFR
and UACR. Together these tests paint a picture of your overall kidney health.
eGFR
The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a blood test that measures how well kidneys filter the blood.
Both the eGFR and UACR tests are used to determine the stage of kidney disease and monitor kidney disease progression.
UACR
Urine albumin-to-creatine ratio (UACR) is a urine test that measures the ratio of a protein in the blood to waste in the urine.
Even though I'd been treated for type 2 diabetes for 10 years, I was already at late-stage kidney disease when I was diagnosed. I wish I knew about the connection between hypertension, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease sooner, and encourage others at-risk for this disease, like I was, to get tested.
Testing can:
Help inform you about your health
Help identify kidney disease early
Help kick-start a care plan
