Kidney Disease in African Americans
- African Americans are four times more likely to develop kidney failure than
Caucasians.1
- African Americans make up 12 percent of the population but account for 30
percent of people with kidney failure.1
- Diabetes and high blood pressure account for about 70 percent of kidney
failure in African Americans.1
- A recent NKDEP survey of African Americans found that only 17 percent named
kidney disease as a consequence of diabetes, and only eight percent named it as
a consequence of high blood pressure.2
- African American males ages 22 – 44 are 20 times more likely to develop
kidney failure due to high blood pressure than Caucasian males in the same age
group.1
- Forty-five percent of African American men with kidney failure received late
referrals to nephrologists. In some cases people were not aware they had a
problem until they needed dialysis.3
Kidney Disease in the United States
- Approximately 20 million Americans have kidney disease. The number of people
diagnosed with kidney disease has doubled each decade for the last two
decades.1
- In 2001, there were about 400,000 people who had kidney failure, which
requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive. By 2010, an estimated
661,330 individuals will have kidney failure.1
- The annual cost of treating patients with kidney failure in the U.S. is more
than $20 billion.1
- In 2000, about the same number of people died with kidney failure as with
breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.4