Kidney disease continues to be the ninth leading cause of death across the United States, as most cases go undiagnosed prior to kidney failure.
Currently, an estimated one in seven people in the U.S. has kidney disease, with the majority of the cases going unnoticed due to the lack of symptoms. The signs usually vary between symptoms such as fatigue, high blood pressure, or an imbalance of water-electrolytes, but some individuals do not experience any prior to seeing a doctor.
According to the Mississippi Kidney Foundation, Mississippi ranks 49th in the nation in incidences of kidney disease, with the residents in the state’s capital city facing a 26 percent higher prevalence of kidney failure than the national average.
TJ Mayfield, the executive director at the Mississippi Kidney Foundation, explained that the organization aims to educate residents throughout Mississippi about the signs and symptoms of kidney disease.
“So often, people don’t kidneys until they fail, until people end up on dialysis and need a transplant,” Mayfield said on Good Things with Rebecca Turner. “More than anything, we want to educate people on if you have diabetes, if you have high blood pressure, if you are obese, you are more likely to have kidney disease than anybody else.”
At this time, more than 75 percent of African Americans in Jackson who have kidney failure also have diabetes or hypertension.
“Especially in a state like Mississippi where those three things are more prevalent than most states in America, the prevention of kidney failure is the most important thing,” Mayfield stated.
Mayfield added that although the organization emphasizes taking steps to prevent the disease, the Mississippi Kidney Foundation works to provide services for those in need during the process of dialysis.
“One thing that we do is a virtual support group. The mental health aspect of accepting the reality that you have to get on dialysis is not a fun thing because it changes everything about your life,” Mayfield said. “We also offer financial assistance because so many people can’t work, they need help with bills.”
Nearly 9,000 Mississippians are currently on dialysis, with the total steadily increasing within the past few years.
The Mississippi Kidney Foundation is pushing residents in the state to ask their doctors to test them for the disease with a blood or urine test to reduce the climbing number of kidney failures.
