Kidney disease soars in Australia*

AAP

May 27, 2009 01:01am

THE rate of Australians receiving dialysis and kidney transplants has
shot up by more than a quarter, new figures show.

Chronic kidney disease was a factor in nearly one in 10 deaths in 2006
and more than one million hospitalisations in 2006-07, according an
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report released today.

Between 2000 and 2007, the rate of people receiving dialysis and kidney
transplants for the treatment of end-stage kidney disease rose by 26 per
cent.

Over the same period, the number of new cases of end-stage kidney
disease attributed to diabetes increased by almost two thirds in people
aged 55 years and older.

The institute's Claire Ryan said the risk factors for chronic kidney
disease in Australia are high, including smoking and obesity.

"Statistics like these obviously indicate that chronic kidney disease is
a common and serious problem in Australia,'' she said.

Chronic kidney disease is particularly common among indigenous people,
who also have a high rate of diabetes.

Aboriginal people are six times more likely than non-indigenous people
to receive dialysis and kidney transplants.