Recently, it was reported that a formula used to assess kidney failure for Black people caused many to be placed on the transplant list later than they should. For one 29-year-old woman, she waited four years for a kidney. It was later determined, she should have been on the list four years earlier than when it happened.
Here in the U.S. that kidney disease and kidney failure affect Black people the most. Currently, there are over 14,000 Black people on the kidney waitlist out of the 89,000 total. Now, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders make up most of the rest. To hear about this racially biased formula in 2024 is sad. But it continues to show the world that racism still exist; especially as it relates to healthcare. There are many conditions that are prevalent to the Black population and can affect the kidneys. When having high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, or a family history, it automatically puts you at risk.
My husband is a kidney transplant recipient from a deceased donor. Through him I was able to see the process. That when finding out his kidney function was gone, doing peritoneal dialysis, and when deciding to take a donor kidney. When receiving a deceased kidney, the call can come in at any hour. They give you as much details as they can about the deceased individual. If they had mental illness, their occupation, and their age among other areas. Also, you learn how many hours it has been since they passed away. The kidney has 48 hours to survive. When my husband got his call the kidney was at 17 hours in a southern state.
Although, I’m sure there are so many other testing biases in healthcare. The time is still here for us to take care our body. By finding ways to reduce salt intake and increaseing exercise is a start. Making sure to schedule annual doctor visits where blood and urine tests are done. Just make sure you are aware and keep up with the numbers related to your kidney function, creatinine and albumin.