A new study led by the Johns Hopkins Children?s Center attempts to fill in gaps in knowledge about kidney disease in young people.
Chronic kidney disease in children and teens is poorly understood, Hopkins researchers said. But a four-year National Institutes of Health-funded study is enrolling 540 children and teens to monitor early and middle stages of the disease.
“There has never, to our knowledge, been a study designed to systematically assess the changes in kidney function over time in children with early kidney disease and to determine how these changes affect behavior, learning, heart disease risk and growth,” said Dr. Susan Furth, a Hopkins nephrologist and lead author of a report on the study appearing in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Kidney disease has been linked to delayed onset of puberty, declines in physical activity and quality of life and possible changes to learning ability, Furth said. “There may be some impact on the ability to pay attention to a task, to cognition and learning.”
Researchers will collect blood, urine, fingernail and hair samples and will monitor kidney function, height, weight, blood pressure and heart disease by the use of echocardiograms. Periodic surveys are planned to track everything from quality of life and social and cognitive development to sexual maturation during puberty.
The Johns Hopkins Children?s Center is helping coordinate 57 centers around the country, providing data coordination through the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Kidney disease in children tends to begin and develop silently, Hopkins scientists said. Thirty-seven percent of kidney transplant patients in 2001 were between the ages of 20 and 44, and most likely developed the disease in childhood. Researchers estimate 650,000 Americans will develop end-stage renal disease by 2010, costing the health care system $28 billion a year.
Results of the study will be reported incrementally, but researchers already used data to refine a European technique to measure the kidneys? filtering capacity ? the most precise indicator of kidney function and status.
The test measures how fast the kidneys clear an injected contrast agent from the blood. The current method yields faulty results in one out of four tests.
The study is still open, and parents and children with kidney disease can learn more by contacting their physician or visiting www.statepi.jhsph.edu/ckid or calling 866-770-KCID.
Warning signs of kidney disease
» High blood pressure
» Blood and/or protein in the urine
» More frequent urination, particularly at night; difficult or painful urination
» Puffiness around eyes, swelling of hands and feet
