Dialysis & Transplant Resources

Reasons to Fund Kidney Research

1. Over 25 Million people suffer from Chronic Kidney Disease.

2. Aproximately 360,000 Americans suffer from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) and this number increases by about 7% each year.

3. In the last decade, the number of people diagnosed with ESRD has risen 95%

4. The majority of ESRD patients are over 65 and are treated with Hemodialysis.

5. Diabetes & Hypertension (high blood pressure) are the number one and number two causes of kidney disease, respectively.

6. Dialysis is not a cure for kidney disease. This life-saving, blood-filtering process is also strenuous, expensive and comes with severe dietary and lifestyle resrictions.

7. ESRD is 4 times more likely to occur in African-Americans than in Caucasians.

8. Over the past 10 years, Medicare costs for treatment of ESRD have increased 129%. These expenses account for 5.8% of Medicares overall annual budget. This results in an approximate cost of $13.82 billion annually to support and treat ESRD patients. These skyrocketing costs are due to both the increase in patients and the cost of newer, more effective medications and treatment processes.

9. Medical research remains the best hope to reduce human suffering and the enormous medical costs imposed by ESRD.

10. Unless people experiencing kidney failure are treated, they can die within days, due to the build-up of toxins and fluid in their blood.