Chronic Kidney Disease and Cardiovascular Risk

Strasbourg, France (ots/PRNewswire) - The European Kidney
Health Alliance (EKHA) and World Kidney Day (WKD) organisations today
call for urgent European Union (EU) action to curb the increasing
burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and associated diseases.

The Members of European Parliament (MEP) Group for Kidney Health
met with some of Europe's top kidney experts at a lunch seminar in
the European Parliament in Strasbourg held in honour of World Kidney
Day, an annual global awareness raising campaign which this year
falls on 10th March 2011.

Mrs Frieda Brepoels, MEP, stated "Unfortunately, the fact that we
are still confronted with so many people on dialysis, or on the
waiting list for a donor organ, proves to a certain extent the
inherent failure of our public health system. Transplantation is the
last resort for people with chronic kidney disease. The Parliament's
recent work on quality and safety of transplantation and on the
availability of donor organs has been important, but it is not
enough. We should also focus on how we can prevent European citizens
from needing transplantation in the first place."

Speaking at the seminar, Professor Andrew Rees, Chairman of the
European Kidney Health Alliance, commented "We want to make
policymakers aware of the importance of chronic kidney disease (CKD)
to the health of Europe's citizens. It is common - affecting one in
10 of the population - and not only predisposes to kidney failure but
greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease including heart
attacks and strokes."

Premature cardiovascular disease is the biggest cause of
morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the important role of the
kidneys in cardiovascular disease was explained by Prof. Colin
Baigent, Professor of Epidemiology and Honorary Consultant in Public
Health at the University of Oxford.

"Some of the major causes of heart disease, particularly diabetes
and high blood pressure, are also potent causes of kidney disease, so
heart and kidney disease frequently occur together. As European
populations get older, this deadly combination of diseases will
become very common, so research into their prevention should be a
public health priority."

In patients with CKD, cardiovascular disease may also be caused
by a severe disorder of mineral and bone metabolism, which causes
calcium release from bone and deposition in the blood vessels. This
in turn may lead to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The
majority of an estimated 324,000 CKD patients on dialysis in Europe
suffer from some degree of disordered mineral and bone metabolism.

As well as the ageing population, recent trends in European
lifestyles greatly increase the risk of developing chronic diseases,
including CKD, and action to reverse them needs to be taken now if
the targets set out in the Europe 2020 strategy are to be met,
including the goal of having 75% of the working age population
employed and productive. Tobacco use, high alcohol consumption, poor
nutrition, obesity and lack of physical activity all contribute to
the rising prevalence of CKD and related diseases.

Professor Rees gave the example of a common healthy choice that
everyone can make - drinking water instead of sugary carbonated
drinks: "Many people don't realise how many calories can be found in
carbonated drinks which are typically sweetened with large amounts of
fructose containing sugars that may contribute to CKD. People need to
be aware that water rather than fizzy drinks is the healthy choice."

CKD patient Paul Jongen gave the audience an account of his
experience with kidney disease and the effects it has had on his
personal, professional and social life. Mr Jongen emphasized the key
role of self-management in his dialysis treatment, explaining how
Home Hemodialysis, especially at night, resulted in a better outcome
for him.

Also illustrating the importance of self-management, and
introducing e-health as a strand of technology which may aid
self-management in CKD, Neil Turner, Professor of Nephrology at the
Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, presented Renal PatientView, a website
designed to allow patients access to their diagnosis, test results
and other information about kidney disease, from anywhere in the
world.

"We introduced Renal PatientView cautiously, but the system has
been enthusiastically received by not only patients, but also
healthcare staff, and it is now available in the great majority of UK
renal units, and has over 11,000 active users. It is inexpensive, and
we have found that it has generated a group of patients who are much
better educated about their condition."

EKHA called for increased recognition of CKD and related diseases
in European policymaking, and for concrete action to tackle lifestyle
factors that may increase the risk of developing chronic diseases.
EKHA welcomes the recent Council conclusions on innovative approaches
for chronic diseases in public health and healthcare systems and
looks forward to the initiation of a reflection progress by the
European Commission to identify options to optimize the response to
the challenges of chronic diseases.

The event in the European Parliament was supported by Amgen,
Danone Research and Roche.

Notes to editors:

About The European Kidney Health Alliance

The European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA) is an Alliance of
not-for-profit organisations who represent the key stakeholders in
kidney health issues in Europe.

EKHA takes a multidisciplinary approach involving patients and
their families, doctors and nurses, researchers and other healthcare
professionals who work cooperatively for a European health
environment in which there is a sustained decrease in kidney disease
and its consequences.

About World Kidney Day

World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global health awareness campaign
focusing on the importance of our kidneys and reducing the frequency
and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems
worldwide. The campaign is celebrated every year on the second
Thursday of March in more than 100 countries on 6 continents.

About Amgen

Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers innovative
human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one
of the first companies to realize the new science's promise by
bringing safe, effective medicines from lab to manufacturing plant to
patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine,
helping millions of people around the world in the fight against
cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, bone disease, and other
serious illnesses. With a deep and broad pipeline of potential new
medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to
dramatically improve people's lives. To learn more about our
pioneering science and vital medicines, visit http://www.amgen.com.

About Danone Research

Danone Research, a subsidiary of Danone group is at the core of
the group's mission : bringing health through food to as many people
as possible. The Hydration and Health department aims at
demonstrating the benefits of healthy hydration choices. Among
others, hydration has a strong relationship with kidneys' physiology
and we believe that drinking enough water is a simple healthy habit
everyone can take to sustain kidney health. http://www.danone.com

About Roche

Roche plays a pioneering role in healthcare. As an innovator of
products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis
and treatment of diseases, Roche contributes on a broad range of
fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is
providing the first products that are tailored to the needs of
specific patient groups. Roche's mission today and tomorrow is to
create added value in healthcare by focusing on our expertise in
diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. Roche is the world leader in
in-vitro diagnostics and drugs cancer, transplantation, and active in
other major therapeutic areas with a high medical need such as
autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, virology, metabolic
disorders and diseases of the central nervous system.

Roche is committed to meeting high ethical standards and
complying with all applicable local, national and international laws
wherever we do business. Our ethical standards are embodied in our
Corporate Principles.

For more than 110 years Roche has played a pioneering role in
healthcare. http://www.roche.com

About CKD and its Symptoms

Chronic Kidney Disease is the general name for persistent
irreversible damage to the kidney. In its earliest stages, the
kidneys may only have minor structural damage. Often such damage
tends to progress if undetected and untreated. One of the signs of
early CKD is the presence of small amounts of protein in the
urine.(1) More advanced CKD is characterised by progressively greater
abnormalities in the chemical composition of the blood, anaemia - a
cause of tiredness and shortness of breath, and bone abnormalities.
The most advanced form of CKD occurs when the kidney has been nearly
completely destroyed and treatment with dialysis or kidney
transplantation is required for survival. Many individuals with CKD
do not progress to kidney failure and treatment has the twin
objectives of correcting the abnormalities resulting from the kidney
damage and of preventing progression to more advanced stages.

The most common causes of CKD are diabetes, hypertension, and
glomerulonephritis(2) and many factors contribute to its progression.
Loss of albumin into the urine is one of these key factors and when
this occurs, renal disease usually progresses to the end stage unless
reversed by treatment. The growing prevalence of obesity-related type
2 diabetes coupled with the ageing population has increased the
number of people with CKD or at risk of it.(3)

References
(1) de Jong PE, van der Velde M, Gansevoort, RT, Zoccali, Z.Screening
for Chronic Kidney Disease: Where Does Europe Go? Clin J Am Soc
Nephrol 2008 3:616-623
(2) National Kidney Foundation, 2009, How Your Kidneys Work,
http://www.kidney.org/kidneyDisease/howkidneyswrk.cfm#what
(3) King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes, 1995-2025:
prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diabetes Care
1998; 21: 1414-1431.

ots Originaltext: European Kidney Health Alliance
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
EKHA Media Queries, Anna Rouillard,
+32-2-639-6230,anna.rouillard@ekha.eu; or WKD Media Queries, Sara
Martin, +32-2-213-1398,smartin@isn-online.org, or Amgen Media
Queries, Rachel Terry,+44-20-7300-6352, rachel.terry@bm.com