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An estimated 4.5 percent of adults 20 years of age and older have physiological evidence of chronic kidney disease. (7.4 million adults are determined to have a moderately or severely reduced filtration rate and are diagnosed with kidney disease.) In the United States, kidney failure is becoming increasingly common and is associated with poor health outcomes and high medical expenditures. In this country, the number of patients treated with dialysis or transplantation is projected to increase from 340,000 in 1999 to 651,000 in 2010.
Progressive loss of kidney function over time in most patients with chronic kidney disease is a well-known outcome. Because of the older age at onset for many forms of kidney disease and the slow rate of decline in kidney function, decreased kidney function is far more common than kidney failure, for which replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation) becomes necessary. Kidney disease is more prevalent in women than in men. The cost of a year of dialysis runs $30,000 per patient, so Medicare picks up the cost as almost no one can afford this expense.
Decreased kidney function is associated with complications in virtually all organs. Therapeutic interventions in the earlier stages may prevent or ameliorate some of these complications as well as slow progression to kidney failure. The key is prevention! Salad fans may have lower risk of kidney disease. Women keen on bananas, salads and root vegetables may be less likely to develop kidney cancer, suggests a new Swedish study. Researchers in Sweden analyzed dietary information from 61,000 women aged 40-76 and followed the group for 13 years. They found that those who consumed five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily reduced their relative risk of developing renal cell carcinoma as well as loss of kidney function.
However, certain fruits and vegetables — namely bananas, root vegetables, white cabbage and salad vegetables — appeared to offer strong protection, reported the authors in the 20 January issue of the International Journal of Cancer (vol. 113, issue 3, pgs. 451-455). Eating salads more than once a day decreased the risk by 40 percent in comparison to no consumption, and women who ate bananas four to six times a week had about half the risk of kidney cancer as those who did not eat the fruit. Regular consumption of root vegetables like carrots was linked to a 50-65 percent decrease in risk.
The number of people being diagnosed with kidney cancer has increased sharply over the past 20 years. However, rates are much higher in western countries than they are in developing countries, leading scientists to suspect that lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity play an important role. This new study is the largest to show an association between kidney cancer and fruit and vegetable intake, according to lead researchers.
Remember to always check with your physician before incorporating any changes in exercise or diet. E-mail me with your suggestions, questions, and comments on Healthy Living at [email protected].
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