(Ivanhoe Newswire) – An estimated 26 million American adults suffer with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and according to a new study, many cases are left untreated, especially among the elderly. In the study that included nearly two million adults in Canada, the rate of progression to untreated kidney failure was considerably higher among older adults (85 years and older), compared to younger individuals. Past research had indicated that older adults were least likely to have untreated kidney failure.

"Studies of the association among age, kidney function, and clinical outcomes have reported that elderly patients are less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared with younger patients and are more likely to die than to progress to kidney failure even at the lowest levels of estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR; flow rate of filtered fluid through a kidney]," according to background information in the article. Previous studies have defined kidney failure by receipt of long-term dialysis, which reflects both disease progression and a treatment decision. "Because it is plausible that the likelihood of initiating long-term dialysis among individuals with kidney failure varies by age, earlier studies may provide an incomplete picture of the burden of advanced kidney disease in older adults, based on the incidence of long-term dialysis alone."

Brenda R. Hemmelgarn, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether age is associated with the likelihood of treated kidney failure (renal replacement therapy: receipt of long-term dialysis or kidney transplantation), untreated kidney failure, and all-cause mortality.

During a follow-up after 4 and a half years, 97,451 (5.4 percent) of study participants died, 3,295 (0.18 percent) developed treated kidney failure, and 3,116 (0.17 percent) developed untreated kidney failure. Researchers also discovered that adjusted rates of death increased with increasing age. Also, rates of treated kidney failure were consistently higher among the youngest age group.

The opposite results were evident for untreated kidney failure. The risk of untreated kidney failure increased with lower vs. higher eGFR categories, and this association was stronger with increasing age. "For the lowest eGFR stratum (15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2), adjusted rates of untreated kidney failure were more than 5-fold higher among the oldest age stratum (85 years or older) compared with the youngest age stratum (18-44 years)."

The researchers write that their results suggest that the incidence of advanced kidney disease in the elderly may be substantially underestimated by rates of treated kidney failure alone.

"These findings have important implications for clinical practice and decision making; coupled with the finding that many older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease [CKD] are not adequately prepared for dialysis, these results suggest a need to prioritize the assessment and recognition of CKD progression among older adults. Our findings also imply that clinicians should offer dialysis to older adults who are likely to benefit from it—and should offer a positive alternative to dialysis in the form of conservative management (including end-of-life care when appropriate) for patients who are unlikely to benefit from (or prefer not to receive) long-term dialysis. Given the large number of older adults with severe CKD, these results also highlight the need for more proactive identification of older adults with CKD, assessment of their symptom burden, and development of appropriate management strategies. Finally, our study demonstrates the need to better understand the clinical significance of untreated kidney failure, the factors that influence dialysis initiation decisions in older adults, and the importance of a shared decision making process for older adults with advanced CKD."

SOURCE: JAMA and Archives Journals June 2012

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Joan Manning is in the Hunterville Women's Institute, one of seven member groups aligned to the Wanganui Federation.

Each institute was given $10 worth of tea bags and coffee to grow to raise funds for Kidney Kids to refurbish Auckland's renal unit.

Mrs Manning said the Hunterville Institute had already held two fundraisers with 12 members in Marton and eight at Hunterville, and raised $200 between the two. Each member paid $5 for an afternoon tea and they also held raffles, with one of the prizes being a voucher from Paper Plus. She said this was an opportunity to inspire each other, and there'll be a lunch to follow. Mrs Manning said she's not sure what they'll have yet, but mentioned the national dish of South Africa, bobotie - a mixture of curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden topping. "We are sending our Marton delegate Jean Martin to conference so the extra money will replenish what we used."

The institute will hold a blind auction in August on its club day at the Friendship Hall in Marton.

Club days are held on the first Monday of every month and guest speakers are invited to address the members.

This month's speaker was fireman Terry O'Keefe on how to "keep themselves safe".

Mrs Manning came to New Zealand from South Africa 30 years ago where she was a member of a women's institute. A teacher, Mrs Manning taught in Pukerua Bay before moving to Hunterville.

She now also teaches the elective applique at Hunterville School when she is not organising institute events.

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CHICAGO – In a study that included nearly 2 millions adults in Canada, the rate of progression to untreated kidney failure was considerably higher among older adults, compared to younger individuals, according to a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA.

"Studies of the association among age, kidney function, and clinical outcomes have reported that elderly patients are less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared with younger patients and are more likely to die than to progress to kidney failure even at the lowest levels of estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR; flow rate of filtered fluid through a kidney]," according to background information in the article. Previous studies have defined kidney failure by receipt of long-term dialysis, which reflects both disease progression and a treatment decision. "Because it is plausible that the likelihood of initiating long-term dialysis among individuals with kidney failure varies by age, earlier studies may provide an incomplete picture of the burden of advanced kidney disease in older adults, based on the incidence of long-term dialysis alone."

Brenda R. Hemmelgarn, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether age is associated with the likelihood of treated kidney failure (renal replacement therapy: receipt of long-term dialysis or kidney transplantation), untreated kidney failure, and all-cause mortality. The study included 1,816,824 adults in Alberta, Canada, who had outpatient eGFR measured between May 2002 and March 2008, with a baseline eGFR of 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 or higher and who did not require renal replacement therapy at the beginning of the study. The primary outcome measures for the study were adjusted rates of treated kidney failure, untreated kidney failure (progression to eGFR <15 mL/min/1.73 m2 without renal replacement therapy), and death.

During a median (midpoint) follow-up of 4.4 years, 97,451 (5.4 percent) of study participants died, 3,295 (0.18 percent) developed treated kidney failure, and 3,116 (0.17 percent) developed untreated kidney failure. The researchers found that within each eGFR stratum, adjusted rates of death increased with increasing age. Also, within each eGFR stratum, rates of treated kidney failure were consistently higher among the youngest age group. "For example, in the lowest eGFR stratum (15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2), adjusted rates of treated kidney failure were more than 10-fold higher among the youngest (18-44 years) compared with the oldest (85 years or older) groups," the authors write.

The opposite results were evident for untreated kidney failure. The risk of untreated kidney failure increased with lower vs. higher eGFR categories, and this association was stronger with increasing age. "For the lowest eGFR stratum (15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2), adjusted rates of untreated kidney failure were more than 5-fold higher among the oldest age stratum (85 years or older) compared with the youngest age stratum (18-44 years)."

Rates of kidney failure overall (treated and untreated combined) demonstrated less variation across age groups.

The researchers write that their results suggest that the incidence of advanced kidney disease in the elderly may be substantially underestimated by rates of treated kidney failure alone.

"These findings have important implications for clinical practice and decision making; coupled with the finding that many older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease [CKD] are not adequately prepared for dialysis, these results suggest a need to prioritize the assessment and recognition of CKD progression among older adults. Our findings also imply that clinicians should offer dialysis to older adults who are likely to benefit from it—and should offer a positive alternative to dialysis in the form of conservative management (including end-of-life care when appropriate) for patients who are unlikely to benefit from (or prefer not to receive) long-term dialysis. Given the large number of older adults with severe CKD, these results also highlight the need for more proactive identification of older adults with CKD, assessment of their symptom burden, and development of appropriate management strategies. Finally, our study demonstrates the need to better understand the clinical significance of untreated kidney failure, the factors that influence dialysis initiation decisions in older adults, and the importance of a shared decision making process for older adults with advanced CKD."

(JAMA. 2012;307[23]:2507-2515. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Editorial: Treated and Untreated Kidney Failure in Older Adults - What's the Right Balance?

In an accompanying editorial, Manjula Kurella Tamura, M.D., M.P.H., and Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif., (Dr. Winkelmayer is also Contributing Editor, JAMA), comment on the findings of this study.

"…the work by Hemmelgarn and colleagues highlights a potentially sizeable unmeasured burden of untreated kidney failure among older adults. It is of paramount importance to refine the current understanding of what constitutes appropriate treatment for kidney failure, which factors influence the decision-making process, and which methods are optimal for aligning treatment plans with patient goals and prognosis. Finding the right balance between overtreatment and undertreatment is challenging but necessary. This important scientific and ethical debate can no longer be avoided, for both individual and societal good."

(JAMA. 2012;307[23]:2545-2546. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

...

CHICAGO – In a study that included nearly 2 millions adults in Canada, the rate of progression to untreated kidney failure was considerably higher among older adults, compared to younger individuals, according to a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA.

"Studies of the association among age, kidney function, and clinical outcomes have reported that elderly patients are less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared with younger patients and are more likely to die than to progress to kidney failure even at the lowest levels of estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR; flow rate of filtered fluid through a kidney]," according to background information in the article. Previous studies have defined kidney failure by receipt of long-term dialysis, which reflects both disease progression and a treatment decision. "Because it is plausible that the likelihood of initiating long-term dialysis among individuals with kidney failure varies by age, earlier studies may provide an incomplete picture of the burden of advanced kidney disease in older adults, based on the incidence of long-term dialysis alone."

Brenda R. Hemmelgarn, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues conducted a study to determine whether age is associated with the likelihood of treated kidney failure (renal replacement therapy: receipt of long-term dialysis or kidney transplantation), untreated kidney failure, and all-cause mortality. The study included 1,816,824 adults in Alberta, Canada, who had outpatient eGFR measured between May 2002 and March 2008, with a baseline eGFR of 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 or higher and who did not require renal replacement therapy at the beginning of the study. The primary outcome measures for the study were adjusted rates of treated kidney failure, untreated kidney failure (progression to eGFR <15 mL/min/1.73 m2 without renal replacement therapy), and death.

During a median (midpoint) follow-up of 4.4 years, 97,451 (5.4 percent) of study participants died, 3,295 (0.18 percent) developed treated kidney failure, and 3,116 (0.17 percent) developed untreated kidney failure. The researchers found that within each eGFR stratum, adjusted rates of death increased with increasing age. Also, within each eGFR stratum, rates of treated kidney failure were consistently higher among the youngest age group. "For example, in the lowest eGFR stratum (15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2), adjusted rates of treated kidney failure were more than 10-fold higher among the youngest (18-44 years) compared with the oldest (85 years or older) groups," the authors write.

The opposite results were evident for untreated kidney failure. The risk of untreated kidney failure increased with lower vs. higher eGFR categories, and this association was stronger with increasing age. "For the lowest eGFR stratum (15-29 mL/min/1.73 m2), adjusted rates of untreated kidney failure were more than 5-fold higher among the oldest age stratum (85 years or older) compared with the youngest age stratum (18-44 years)."

Rates of kidney failure overall (treated and untreated combined) demonstrated less variation across age groups.

The researchers write that their results suggest that the incidence of advanced kidney disease in the elderly may be substantially underestimated by rates of treated kidney failure alone.

"These findings have important implications for clinical practice and decision making; coupled with the finding that many older adults with advanced chronic kidney disease [CKD] are not adequately prepared for dialysis, these results suggest a need to prioritize the assessment and recognition of CKD progression among older adults. Our findings also imply that clinicians should offer dialysis to older adults who are likely to benefit from it—and should offer a positive alternative to dialysis in the form of conservative management (including end-of-life care when appropriate) for patients who are unlikely to benefit from (or prefer not to receive) long-term dialysis. Given the large number of older adults with severe CKD, these results also highlight the need for more proactive identification of older adults with CKD, assessment of their symptom burden, and development of appropriate management strategies. Finally, our study demonstrates the need to better understand the clinical significance of untreated kidney failure, the factors that influence dialysis initiation decisions in older adults, and the importance of a shared decision making process for older adults with advanced CKD."

(JAMA. 2012;307[23]:2507-2515. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Editorial: Treated and Untreated Kidney Failure in Older Adults - What's the Right Balance?

In an accompanying editorial, Manjula Kurella Tamura, M.D., M.P.H., and Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif., (Dr. Winkelmayer is also Contributing Editor, JAMA), comment on the findings of this study.

"…the work by Hemmelgarn and colleagues highlights a potentially sizeable unmeasured burden of untreated kidney failure among older adults. It is of paramount importance to refine the current understanding of what constitutes appropriate treatment for kidney failure, which factors influence the decision-making process, and which methods are optimal for aligning treatment plans with patient goals and prognosis. Finding the right balance between overtreatment and undertreatment is challenging but necessary. This important scientific and ethical debate can no longer be avoided, for both individual and societal good."

(JAMA. 2012;307[23]:2545-2546. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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