As part of its mission of early detection and early intervention, the National Kidney Foundation Serving Maryland and Delaware’s community-based initiative will educate about the kidneys, risk factors for kidney disease, and steps to take to keep kidneys healthy and reduce risk.

Although 30 million people are estimated to have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), 96 percent of those with early kidney disease (stages 1 and 2) don’t even know they have CKD. In fact, 25 percent of the 810 people screened locally by NKF in FY 2018 and 410 people screened in the first six months of FY 2019 demonstrated significant results.

Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and family history of kidney failure. People of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. African Americans are three times more likely than Whites, and Hispanics are nearly 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to develop end stage renal disease (kidney failure).

Admission to B’More Healthy Expo is free. For details about NKF’s exhibit at this event or the Foundation’s free kidney screenings and kidney health risk assessments in Maryland and Delaware, visit www.kidneymd.org or call 410.494.8545 to speak with associate executive director, Jessica Quintilian.

The National Kidney Foundation is the largest, most comprehensive and longstanding organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease. For more information, visit www.kidney.org.