Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes - Major Risk Factors Amongst Europe's Population to Be Urgently Addressed

Strasbourg, France, March 10, 2010 (ots/PRNewswire) - The European
Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) and World Kidney Day (WKD)
organisations today call for European Union (EU) support. Early
awareness, identification and treatment of chronic kidney disease
(CKD) and its associated diseases, including diabetes - the leading
cause of CKD(1) - must be prioritised on the EU health agenda. The
Members of European Parliament (MEP) Group for Kidney Health met with
distinguished panellists at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
today at a meeting held to coincide with the annual global health
awareness campaign World Kidney Day, 11th March 2010.

Mrs. Frieda Brepoels MEP commented, "The European Union should
continue to encourage the competent authorities in the Member States
to take action to address the problem of chronic kidney disease,
diabetes and the other associated diseases. Preventative strategies
are the only way to minimise the number of people needing organ
transplants in the future. Increasing awareness of CKD is the first
and, perhaps, most important step towards preventing kidney failure.
Today, we urge the EU to use its authoritative voice to support
competent authorities in developing public health programs that
acknowledge the importance of preventing CKD."

Speaking at the event, Professor Andrew Rees, Chairman of EKHA
commented, "Although, chronic kidney disease affects at least 10% of
the European population(2), there is little awareness of the problems
it causes, particularly amongst high-risk groups such as patients
with diabetes. Today we are calling for novel strategies to improve
early detection of CKD as part of a coordinated approach to tackle
major chronic diseases."

Indeed, the lack of awareness among at-risk patients was
illustrated by results from a pan-European survey conducted amongst
diabetes patients which showed that, while the majority of
respondents (67%) with diabetes were aware that they were at
increased risk of CKD, worryingly, almost 70% have never discussed
steps they should take to look after their kidneys with their doctor.
Only 12% of these respondents correctly assumed that CKD has no
obvious symptoms, highlighting the urgent need to raise awareness and
improve early detection of CKD.

Professor Eberhard Ritz, Department Internal Medicine, Ruperto
Carola University, Nierenzentrum, Heidelberg added, "There is an
urgent need for improved public awareness, detection rates and
subsequent management of chronic kidney disease in clinical practice.
Through this, we hope to reduce the number of people needlessly
suffering from CKD and its consequences."

In its most advanced stage, CKD requires renal replacement
therapy with dialysis or transplantation. The EU can play an
important role in ensuring safety and quality standards of organs for
transplantation and increasing the supply of available donor organs.
Of special importance is to acknowledge the role living donation can
play in helping to alleviate the current organ shortage. EKHA calls
on the European Parliament to respect the different cultures and
beliefs of the Union and to allow each Member State to decide
individually whether living donation is complementary or subsidiary
to deceased donation.

The EKHA event at the European Parliament, Strasbourg was
supported by Amgen.

Notes to editors:

About The European Kidney Health Alliance

The European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) is an Alliance of
not-for-profit organisations who represent the key stakeholders in
kidney health issues in Europe.

EKHA takes a multidisciplinary approach involving patients and
their families, doctors and nurses, researchers and other healthcare
professionals who work cooperatively for a European health
environment in which there is a sustained decrease in kidney disease
and its consequences.

About World Kidney Day

World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global health awareness campaign
focusing on the importance of our kidneys and reducing the frequency
and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems
worldwide. The campaign is celebrated every year on the second
Thursday of March in more than 100 countries on 6 continents.

About Amgen

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative
human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one
of the first companies to realise the new science's promise by
bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing
plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics has changed the practice of
medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight
against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other
serious illnesses. With a deep and broad pipeline of potential new
medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to
dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about our
pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.

About CKD and its Symptoms

Chronic Kidney Disease is the general name for persistent
irreversible damage to the kidney. In its earliest stages, the
kidneys may only have minor structural damage. Often such damage
tends to progress if undetected and untreated. One of the signs of
early CKD is the presence of small amounts of protein in the
urine.(2) More advanced CKD is characterised by progressively greater
abnormalities in the chemical composition of the blood, anaemia - a
cause of tiredness and shortness of breath, and bone abnormalities.
The most advanced form of CKD occurs when the kidney has been nearly
completely destroyed and treatment with dialysis or kidney
transplantation is required for survival. Many individuals with CKD
do not progress to kidney failure and treatment has the twin
objectives of correcting the abnormalities resulting from the kidney
damage and of preventing progression to more advanced stages.

The most common causes of CKD are diabetes, hypertension, and
glomerulonephritis(1) and many factors contribute to its progression.
Loss of albumin into the urine is one of these key factors and when
this occurs, renal disease usually progresses to the end stage unless
reversed by treatment. The growing prevalence of obesity-related type
2 diabetes coupled with the ageing population has increased the
number of people with CKD or at risk of it.(3)

About a third of people with diabetes will go on to develop CKD,
as having diabetes may harm the blood vessels in the body and can
cause kidney damage.(4) Diabetes is the leading cause of CKD.(1)

About the Survey

The survey was conducted by research agency TNS, among 962
patients, across 5 European countries (France, Germany, UK, Italy and
Spain). The sample consisted of 227 patients with diabetes, 486 with
CVD, and 233 with both conditions. 16 further patients had CKD in
combination with diabetes and/or CVD. The survey was conducted to
highlight current gaps in knowledge among at-risk groups (CVD and
diabetes patients) and the importance of public health strategies to
address the urgent need for CKD recognition. The survey was conducted
in 2009.

References

(1) National Kidney Foundation, 2009, How Your Kidneys Work,
http://www.kidney.org/kidneyDisease/howkidneyswrk.cfm#what

(2) de Jong PE, van der Velde M, Gansevoort, RT, Zoccali,
Z.Screening for Chronic Kidney Disease: Where Does Europe Go? Clin J
Am Soc Nephrol 2008 3:616-623

(3) King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes,
1995-2025: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diabetes
Care 1998; 21: 1414-1431.

(4) National Kidney Foundation, 2009, Diabetes and Chronic Kidney
Disease, http://www.kidney.org/atoz/pdf/diabetes.pdf

ots Originaltext: European Kidney Health Alliance; World Kidney Day
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
CONTACT: EKHA Media Queries, Anna Rouillard,
+32-2-639-6230,anna.rouillard@ekha.eu; or WKD Media Queries,
Marie-Agnes Cederborg,+32-2-213-13-98,
Marie-Agnes.Cederborg@interel.eu; or Amgen Media Queries,Elisabeth
Neal, +44-20-7300-6137, elisabeth.neal@bm.com