Diabetes is the number one cause of renal disease. Approximately 18.2 million people (6.3% of the population) suffer with diabetes, with 11 million going diagnosed and 5.2 million going undiagnosed.

Nearly 26 million adults have diabetes

Blacks have diabetes 1.8 times more than whites. Kidney disease 4 times more than whites.

3.2 million non-Hispanic Blacks have diabetes.

Direct and indirect cost to the government for treatment: over 132 billion dollars annually!

The percentages of people having diabetes in a certain age/sex group is:

• Age 19 years or younger: 0.19% (151,000 people)
• Age 20 years or older: 8.6% (16.9 million people)
• Age 65 years or older: 20.1% (7 million people) 
• Men: 8.3% (7.8 million) 
• Women: 8.9% (9.1 million)

According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, diabetes is the leading cause of treated end-stage renal disease, accounting for 43 percent of new cases.

About 100,000 people have kidney failure as a result of diabetes.

In 1999, 38,160 people with diabetes began treatment for end-stage renal disease. In addition, a total of 114,478 people with diabetes underwent kidney transplantation.

About 1.3 million new cases are diagnosed per year. 8.2% of men and women have the condition. Diabetes can lead to kidney failure (renal disease), microvascular problems, and blindness and extremity amputations. People with diabetes are twice as likely to have hypertension.

About 1 in every 400 to 500 people have type I diabetes, which tends to occur in young adults and children. About 40% of people with type I diabetes develop kidney failure by the age of 50.

About 95% of people with diabetes have type II diabetes.

Cost of diabetes in the United States as of 2002:
Total (direct and indirect): $132 billion
Direct medical costs: $91.8 billion
Indirect cost over $41 billion (disability, work loss, premature mortality)

In 1999, 450,000 deaths occurred among people with diabetes aged 25 years and older. This number is about 19% of all deaths in the United States in the same age group.

Over 65 million Americans have high blood pressure. Blacks suffer more than any other race. One in 3 people have high blood pressure.

Many of these people are unaware that they have hypertension, which is why it is known as the "silent killer." There is no known cause of hypertension, but some authorities believe that its cause is genetic because certain populations are at higher risk. Minority groups are more likely than the general population to suffer from diabetes and end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Nearly 60 million of this high blood pressure group are over 55.

Cost to government is more than 100 billion.

Hypertension is the second leading cause of renal disease.

Over 20 million Americans have chronic kidney disease. 10 to 20 million more have it, but few know they have chronic kidney disease and know less about the disease.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), as of 2000, the number of new cases of end stage renal disease was over 96,000 and the number of patients undergoing treatment for end stage renal disease was over 370,000.

Primary causes for kidney failure in 1998 are:

• 43.2% Diabetes
• 23.0% High Blood Pressure
• 12.3% Glomerulonephritis
• 2.9% Polycystic Kidney Disease
• 18.6% Other Causes

In general, it costs more than 20 billion to treat kidney disease in the United States. The cost of renal disease to society is estimated at 100 billion dollars, the same as HIV/AIDS, but less money is spent on research, prevention, or the development of new medicines. Even less publicity is given to the problem. 

• Renal disease and hypertension affect 6 out of 10 Americans.
• Of the over 18 million people suffering with diabetes, most are type II diabetics.
• Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure (renal disease.)
• Among people from age 20 years or older, 8.6% or 16.9 million of them have diabetes.
• 8.3% of all men have diabetes and 8.9% of all women have diabetes.
• Hypertension is the number two cause of renal failure.
• Diabetes is the number one cause of blindness. It also causes limb amputation.
• 13 people are added every minute to the transplant waiting list. 
• Over 93,000 are on the organ transplant waiting list. Most are people of color. 74 people get a transplant per day. 18 die every day waiting for a suitable donor organ.
• In Southern California, over 7,500 people are waiting for a kidney transplant.
• In California alone, over 500,000 people suffer with some form of kidney disease.
• Detection and treatment of early kidney disease can reduce the development of kidney failure by 30% to 70%.
  
• According to OneLegacy, Organ Procurement Network in California
  Organ Donation Data:
  2002 Kidney Transplants - 435
  2002 Organ Transplants - 844
  
• 2003 Organ Donor Referral Data by County, Hospital and Medical Center January 1, 2003 through September 30, 2003
  Organ Transplants - 836