The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is promoting the National Kidney Month theme, Preventing Kidney Disease: Healthy Women, Healthy Families.
Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
(Bethesda, MD., Wednesday, February 28, 2018) – March is National Kidney Month, and offers a unique opportunity to bring attention to this chronic disease. More than 30 million Americans live with kidney disease.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of kidney disease. Almost 1 in 4 people with diabetes, and 1 in 5 people with high blood pressure, have kidney disease.
Early kidney disease usually doesn’t have symptoms, but those with diabetes and high blood pressure have an increased risk for developing kidney disease.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is promoting the National Kidney Month theme, Preventing Kidney Disease: Healthy Women, Healthy Families.
NIDDK’s Kidney Sundays, now in its seventh year, helps African Americans raise awareness of kidney disease in their communities. On Sundays throughout March, the NIDDK and national nursing sorority Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., will collaborate with more than 150 faith-based organizations across the country to conduct kidney health education sessions.
In recognition of National Kidney Month this March, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is reaching out to women—especially in African American communities where rates of kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure are higher than in white communities. The NIDDK, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, is promoting healthy lifestyle habits and encouraging women to serve as role models for their friends, families, and communities to help prevent kidney disease.
Lifestyle changes that people make to manage high blood pressure or diabetes—including taking prescribed medications, aiming for and maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep, and making physical activity part of their routines—also help protect their kidneys.
To learn more, visit www.niddk.nih.gov.