About 20 million Americans have chronic kidney disease; 20 million more are at increased risk. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two leading causes of kidney failure.
• Early-stage kidney failure can have no symptoms. Failure occurs when 85 percent to 90 percent of function is lost, which can be determined by blood and urine tests. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weakness, fatigue, confusion, difficulty in concentrating and loss of appetite.
• About 16,000 kidney transplants were performed in 2004, nearly 7,000 of the kidneys from living donors. About 94 percent of cadaver kidneys work a year later. For kidneys from living donors, the rate is 98 percent.
• Living donation of all organs has tripled since 1990, and live donors now outnumber those who donate after death. One kidney is all that’s needed for a normal life. When the kidney is removed, the single kidney will increase in size to compensate for the loss of the donated kidney.
• More than 92,000 Americans are waiting for organ transplants; nearly 4,000 patients are added to the waiting list every month. Every day, 17 people die waiting for a transplant of a vital organ, such as a heart, a liver, a kidney, a pancreas or a lung.
• Acceptable organ donors range in age from newborn to 65 or more. People 65 or older may be donors, particularly of corneas, skin, bone and total body donation.
• Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer
