(Press-News.org) Washington, DC (August 26, 2011) — African Americans are four times more likely to develop kidney failure than whites. A new study has found that a condition that occurs when the kidneys are damaged and spill protein into the urine contributes to this increased risk.
The study, conducted by William McClellan, MD of Emory University and his colleagues, appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN), a publication of the American Society of Nephrology.
The investigators analyzed information from 27,911 individuals (40.5% of whom were African Americans). Among the major findings:
After an average follow-up of 3.6 years, 133 individuals developed kidney failure.
There were 96 cases of kidney failure among African Americans and 37 among whites.
Kidney failure was most common in individuals who excreted large amounts of protein in their urine.
African Americans were more likely to excrete large amounts of protein in their urine than whites.
The investigators speculate that several factors may explain why African Americans tend to excrete more protein in their urine. These could include blood pressure and other heart-related factors, obesity, smoking, vitamin D levels, genetic differences, income, and birth weight. These factors may act at different times during an individual's life to affect kidney health.
"Our large nationwide study brings attention to higher levels of urinary protein excretion as important contributors to the increased incidence of kidney failure experienced by blacks," said Dr. McClellan. Treating urinary protein excretion may help reduce racial disparities related to kidney failure as well as reduce the rate of progression to kidney failure for all individuals.
INFORMATION:
Study co-authors include David Warnock, MD, Suzanne Judd, PhD, Paul Muntner, PhD, Leslie McClure, PhD, George Howard, DrPh (University of Alabama at Birmingham); Reshma Kewalramani, MD (Amgen Corporation); Mary Cushman, MD (University of Vermont); and Britt Newsome, MD (Denver Nephrologists, PC).
Disclosures: This research project is supported by a cooperative agreement U01 NS041588 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. Additional funding was provided by an investigator-initiated grant-in-aid from Amgen Corporation. Amgen did not have any role in the design and conduct of the study, the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data, or the preparation or approval of the manuscript. The manuscript was sent to Amgen for review prior to submission for publication.
The article, entitled "Albuminuria and Racial Disparities in the Incidence of End-Stage Renal Disease," will appear online at http://jasn.asnjournals.org/ doi 10.1681/ASN.2010101085
The content of this article does not reflect the views or opinions of The American Society of Nephrology (ASN). Responsibility for the information and views expressed therein lies entirely with the author(s). ASN does not offer medical advice. All content in ASN publications is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions, or adverse effects. This content should not be used during a medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health care provider if you have any questions about a medical condition, or before taking any drug, changing your diet or commencing or discontinuing any course of treatment. Do not ignore or delay obtaining professional medical advice because of information accessed through ASN. Call 911 or your doctor for all medical emergencies.
Founded in 1966, and with more than 12,000 members, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) leads the fight against kidney disease by educating health professionals, sharing new knowledge, advancing research, and advocating the highest quality care for patients.
END
A new University of British Columbia study finds single parents and male gay couples face significant discrimination in the Metro Vancouver rental housing market, compared to straight couples.
Overall, the study finds that same-sex male couples are nearly 25 per cent more likely to be rejected by landlords seeking renters, while single parents are approximately 15 per cent more likely to be rejected.
The research, published in the August issue of the journal Social Problems, is the largest investigation of housing discrimination towards single parents, and the first ...
No one really likes to contemplate his or her own mortality, but traditional wisdom teaches that a little planning during life makes things a lot easier on surviving loved ones after death -- which is why it is prudent to make a will. However, many believe that once they have accomplished that task they need never think about it again. The truth is that a person needs to revisit his or her estate plan periodically to ensure that it remains current and accurately expresses his or her wishes, especially after major life events such as marriage, divorce, births, deaths, moves, ...
"It's not that the salmon are biting less, there are less of them," explained Eva García Vázquez, lead author and Functional Biology researcher at the University of Oviedo (Spain).
The study, published in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, shows a "very marked" decline in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations in the Narcea, Sella and Cares rivers (Asturias, northern Spain), especially during the last decade, almost simultaneously with the reduction in the amount caught by recreational fishermen.
"Given that fishing effort has almost been constant until ...
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal aid program that provides monthly payments to the elderly, blind and disabled who have limited income and resources. SSI benefits are meant to help provide people with food, shelter and clothing. SSI is administered by the Social Security Administration and is available for both children and adults who meet medical and financial eligibility requirements.
SSI, like Social Security, is funded by the federal government. SSI is financed by funds from the U.S. Treasury generated by taxes. Unlike Social Security benefits, SSI ...
Though spouses have been cheating on each other since the institute of marriage was invented, today's world of electronic communication has provided an environment that makes infidelity that much easier.
With the advent of Facebook, text messaging and email, people have found it much simpler to be unfaithful. It is much easier to hide emails than it is to hide written letters arriving through the U.S. mail, for example. A text message provides instant but discreet communication that a phone call cannot.
As electronic infidelity has increased, however, so have the ...
Babies and toddlers with congenital heart disease are at an increased risk of having harmful toxins in their blood, particularly following surgery, according to research by a team at Imperial College London.
The study, published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that children with high levels of toxins from gut bacteria in their blood are likely to take longer to recover from surgery and spend more time in intensive care.
The researchers say that more work needs to be done to protect children who have heart surgery from ...
The researchers, led by Professor Kristina Sundquist, studied people who had been adopted and compared them with both their biological and their adoptive parents. The Swedish multi-generation register and the in-patient care register were used to follow 80 214 adopted men and women. They were all born in 1932 or later and developed coronary heart disease between 1973 and 2008. Using the registers, the researchers also studied the adoptive parents and biological parents over the same period.
The risk of coronary heart disease in adopted individuals who had at least one ...
Going through a divorce can be a stressful, challenging experience for both spouses. But, there is no reason that even a particularly difficult divorce has to leave your financial life in ruins. By keeping in mind a few key considerations, you can give yourself better chances of keeping your finances intact and thus being able to return more quickly to a normal, productive lifestyle.
Untangle Finances
When some spouses divorce, they attempt to maintain joint credit cards and loans, or continue to comingle their assets. Sometimes this may be done to manage their children's ...
Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, have examined a number of plants which are used for illegal abortions in Tanzania. The lab tests show that several of the plants can make the uterus tissue contract and that the plants therefore can be used to stop lethal bleedings after birth. This new knowledge is now to be conveyed in rural Tanzania where access to medicine often is difficult.
Every year around 350,000 women die globally due to post partum bleedings - blood loss during child birth. On the African continent, one in 16 ...
From bacteria to humans, all forms of life are based on the capacity of one cell to divide into two or more identical daughter cells. In doing so, cells have to produce a copy of their genetic material (DNA) and separate it into two identical sets, one for each daughter cell. Immediately after duplication and before its segregation, DNA is packed in chromosomes that consist of two identical strands joined at a point along their length, called centromeres. Centromeres ensure accurate separation of the chromosomes between daughter cells by directing the assembly of the molecular ...
