Study: Aborigines At Highest Risk For Kidney Ailments Among Canadians

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (AHN) – A study released Tuesday by the University of Manitoba and St. Boniface General Hospital identified aborigines as the group that has the highest risk for kidney ailments among Canadians.

The study covered 727 adults, of whom 161 were aborigines, with end-stage renal disease and on peritoneal dialysis. The dialysis uses a membrane in the abdomen to filter waste and excess water.

Manish Sood, lead author of the study and director of hemodialysis at St. Boniface, admitted being perplexed by the cause of the high rate of kidney ailments and renal deaths among aborigines. He theorized it could be a genetic problem or due to poor nutrition and poor drinking water quality.

Sood said the data indicates the government should give members of First Nations communities more attention and to help find out the reasons behind the high mortality rate when it comes to kidney diseases.

A 2009 study by the Harvard Medical School found out that aborigines have only 33 percent chances compared to Caucasian Canadians to receive a kidney transplant although the natives have over twice the rate of kidney failure.

According to Health Canada, two million Canadians are affected yearly by kidney ailment. Most of they find out they have renal problems only at the later stages of the disease. The Canadian Institute for Health Research has allocated about $23 million over the past four years to learn more about kidney diseases.

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