Diabetic calls for kidney testing

Diabetic calls for kidney testing
MIRANDA LUBY
July 13, 2010

MICHAEL Murray spends 15 hours a week hooked up to a dialysis machine in order to stay alive.

If he could live his life over, he says, he would not have put off the simple test that could have prevented his kidney disease.

Mr Murray called for yearly kidney screenings and more education on the link between diabetes and kidney disease at the launch of a new awareness campaign at St Vincent's Hospital yesterday.
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The 55-year-old has had type 2 diabetes since he was 33. As his kidneys have slowly deteriorated he has had to rely more and more on a machine to do their job.

While dialysis keeps him alive, it also stops him from leading a normal life.

''I've had to give up my job, which I really miss. Dialysis also restricts me from going anywhere; I have to know that wherever I'm going I can book in for regular dialysis treatment, otherwise I can't travel,'' he said.

But it's not just people with the disease it affects; kidney disease will cost Australia $1 billion this year, according to Diabetes Australia. Prevention is a key message behind the campaign, which kicks off the National Diabetes Week.

Diabetes is one of the leading preventable causes of kidney disease - more than excessive drinking or smoking.

''We don't know why there is this massive misconception about the causes of kidney disease. It is a major but misunderstood and underestimated disease,'' said the chief executive of Diabetes Australia, Professor Greg Johnson.

Under a $450 million federal government proposal - which has come under heavy criticism from doctors - diabetics will be encouraged to sign up with a home GP practice for ongoing care.

The number of new patients with type 2 diabetes who need dialysis has doubled in the past eight years. One in four people with diabetes develops long-term kidney damage.

''We are in the midst of a diabetes epidemic and the health and hospital system simply cannot cope with the numbers,'' Professor Johnson said. ''With education and prevention we hope there will be a future where we stop building dialysis machines.''

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/diabetic-calls-for-kidney-testing-20100712-107we.html