HHS HealthBeat (June 5, 2009)

Keeping healthy kidneys

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Kidney disease can happen at any age, but it tends to happen more often among people ages 60 and older.

Conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are the main causes. But people can take action in their own lives to reduce their risks of diabetes and high blood pressure and so reduce their risk of kidney disease.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nilka Rios Burrows has been looking at the risks for kidney disease:

[Nilka Rios Burrows speaks] "If you have diabetes, get your blood sugar levels under control. If you have high blood pressure, keep your blood pressure under control."

Proper eating and being physically active can do that.

Note also that kidney disease is silent – you don’t feel symptoms until it’s too late, and you need medical treatment. Talk to your doctor about getting tested.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011