In the past 30 years, efforts to treat Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) have mainly concentrated on kidney replacement therapies. Today, recent breakthroughs in treatment bring new chances to stop or slow down the disease and handle related issues like heart disease and kidney failure. This can help people with CKD live longer and better lives. We believe that everyone should have access to CKD treatments. To make this happen, we’re focused on making people aware of CKD and how to recognize early signs of kidney problems.
Why are Your Kidneys So Important?
Your kidneys have millions of tiny filters (called nephrons) that filter your blood to:
Chronic Kidney Disease occurs when your nephrons are damaged and stop working. While there are no signs or symptoms of early CKD, over time, it can lead to life-threatening kidney failure. Fortunately, early kidney disease can be detected with simple blood and urine tests, and it can be treated.
Know the Signs of Kidney Disease
Kidney disease can progress into kidney failure if it’s not diagnosed and treated early. Pay attention to your body and if you notice any of these symptoms, see your doctor for a blood or urine test:
- Swelling
- Changes in urination
- Persistent sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Confusion
- Tiredness
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
5 Facts about Kidney Disease
Kidney disease is underdiagnosed; most people who are affected are not aware that they have kidney disease.
Kidney disease disproportionately affects older people, racial and ethnic minorities, and low-income individuals, and is often associated with conditions like cardiovascular disease.
The Medicare program spends more than $150 billion, more than 24% of total spending, to treat individuals with kidney disease.
While kidney disease can affect people of all ages and races, women tend to face more specific challenges linked to kidney disease.
Only about 25,000 kidneys are available for transplantation annually; In contrast, almost 600,000 individuals are receiving chronic dialysis.
Kidney Care & Research at Stony Brook Medicine
The Stony Brook Kidney Center has a 5-star rating, the highest possible from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The Kidney Center:
- Provides maintenance hemodialysis for 150 patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD)
- Provides 24 patients with at-home dialysis for ESKD, allowing for greater flexibility of scheduling, continuation of daytime activities and employment, and reduced trips to the dialysis clinic
- More than 70 adult and pediatric kidney transplants are performed at Stony Brook University Hospital annually, with transplant and survival rates higher than the national average
Stony Brook Kidney Transplant Services
We are Long Island’s oldest and most active kidney transplantation program, having performed over 2,000 transplants since the program was created in 1979.
Did you know?
We have one of the nation's fastest transplant rates, which means shorter waiting times for patients on the donor list. This places us in the top 20 percent of programs nationally by patient volume.
We also have lower-than-expected post-transplant readmission rates, infection rates, and dialysis rates. And, we are the only pediatric transplant program on Long Island with a 100% success rate for new kidney function one year after transplant.