Kidney disease rougher for blacks

BETHESDA, Md., May 7 (UPI) -- Kidney disease worsens in one-quarter of African-Americans despite high blood pressure treatment, a U.S. study said.

The large, long-term, National Institutes of Health study found 25 percent of black high blood pressure patients either lost half their kidney function or reached end-stage renal disease despite receiving the best available treatment including kidney-protecting medications.

The study observed about 750 African-Americans on recommended therapy for chronic kidney disease from 2002 to 2007.

"Despite these sobering results, blood pressure control is still vital in kidney disease and in many other diseases," Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, director of NIH said in a statement. "But this research clearly signals the importance of preventing kidney disease, better understanding causes and finding better ways to manage it in the 26 million Americans who already have it."

One approach is to improve understanding of the good news the study also revealed -- that one-third of the participants showed slow decline in kidney function.

"The factors that may be responsible for such a small loss of kidney function need to be studied," senior study author Dr. Lawrence Agodoa said.