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- CommentAuthorbill
- CommentTimeMar 27th 2010 edited
Up 57% since 1999; Diabetes cited as primary cause of end-stage renal disease
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Kidney+failure+rising+Canada+study/2691116/story.html#ixzz0jLAHV43yKidney failure is on the rise in Canada, according to a study made public yesterday.
A report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) said more than 36,600 Canadians were living with end-stage renal disease in 2008 - a 57 per cent increase since 1999.
According to the study, diabetes was identified as the cause of end-stage renal disease in 35 per cent of new cases in 2008 and remains the predominant reason for the organ's failure.
Three out of five patients were on dialysis, while two out of five were living with a functioning kidney transplant.
There were 5,000 new diagnoses of kidney failure in Canada in 2008 alone, the report found.
"This is an important issue from a public health perspective," said Dr. John Gill, a Vancouver-based kidney transplant physician and CIHI adviser. "It's not a disease that presents pain or some overt symptom. It can be fairly silent."
Like other vascular ailments - heart disease being the most common - smoking, diabetes and high blood pressure are all risk factors for kidney failure.
Aboriginals and the elderly are also predisposed, he said, adding those at risk should be screened regularly as the disease is treatable if it is detected early.
"The key is to identify people before the horse is out of the barn," he said. "Too often we see patients who are at late stage."
More than half of all patients who initiated a transplant or dialysis in 2008, the most recent year for which statistics are available, were over 65.
Patient survival rates for kidney transplants have improved as has the availability of organs, the report found.
"Living organ donation has greatly improved the situation of limited availability of deceased donor organs," the report said. "It has played an increasingly important role in kidney transplantation over the last decade."
That said, living donations are not the long term solution, according to Gill who also serves as chairman of the Canadian Organ Replacement Register.
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- CommentAuthorbill
- CommentTimeMar 27th 2010
When patients die in hospital, asking their loved ones about organ donation should be a routine procedure, he said.
Today it's done piecemeal and many health-care practitioners have a tough time addressing the issue when their primary duty is to preserve life.
He believes better resources for hospitals are key as families need an appropriate place to make end-of-life decisions and doctors take on added duties to harvest the organs.
The data used in the study of end-stage organ failure comes from the Canadian Organ Replacement Register, a national database that records and analyzes the level of activity and outcomes of solid organ transplantation and renal dialysis.
More than 100 hospitals, dialysis centres and organ procurement organizations in nine provinces and one territory report to the CORR, which is managed by CIHI.
The study found that kidneys were by far the most common organ to be transplanted.
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