Here is something interesting I came across this...

Here is something interesting I came across this morning:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthyio-partners-with-the-national-kidney-foundation-to-help-thousands-of-at-risk-americans-prevent-kidney-failure-301174534.html

This is an initiative of the National Kidney Foundation in the USA. This home test is a urine dipstick that measures albumin to creatinine ratio (uACR) and then your smart phone APP reads the results & returns that to the patient. A good way to collect data too on positive tests ie numbers of positive/negative (which would have to be de-identified ethically).

This is a tool to help identify kidney disease earlier in the untested population now that there are drugs available to prevent decline to ESRD.

This test is not predictive of DKD, it is telling people they already have kidney damage if it’s positive & they need to do something about it & see their Dr for investigation. Neither will it predict decline in eGFR, or worsening kidney damage.

I think this is a really good idea, especially in a pandemic where people are skipping GP appointments & screening they should be getting. It’s a known problem we have discussed previously, and not just in the USA, but EU & UK as well, and based on research.

What this means is, there may be many more patients identified as having DKD than was previously known, and especially people who may have recovered from COVID-19 infection at home that were not hospitalised, therefore may not be aware of longer term effects of the virus on their kidneys.

I guess you could compare this to the poo test you receive in the mail when you turn 50 years old to identify occult blood in the stool which may flag bowel cancer. It’s not a diagnosis, it’s a flag to see your health professional for further testing if it’s positive & you get a letter.

GLTAH