Next Sunday, 25 April, my step-son David will spend his 22nd birthday doing something for other people, running the 26 and a bit miles of the London Marathon.
He is running in aid of Kidney Research UK and has to raise £1,500 to run. At the moment he has 88% of his total.
It would be such a shame for him to have trained for so long and endured a painful hamstring injury, all while trying to complete his Masters year of University, and then not to be able to run because he hasn’t reached his fundraising total.
Kidney diseases can affect people of any age
- Of the 7,672 people on the national organ waiting list, 6,909 of them need a kidney
- By contrast, only about 1,800 kidney transplants are carried out each year
- Uncontrolled, or poorly controlled, high blood pressure can cause chronic kidney failure. Yet worryingly, large numbers of people with high blood pressure have not been identified
- Diabetes is the single largest cause of kidney failure.
- More than two million people in the UK have diagnosed diabetes.
- At least a million people are thought to have diabetes but are unaware of it.
- Recent reports indicate that more children will develop diabetes due to obesity, which could add to this number
- There are over 6,500 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed each year and this figure seems to be rising. The disease causes around 3,600 deaths each year
- There are currently believed to be over 37,800 adult patients receiving Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) in the UK
To find out more about Kidney Research UK, its activities and information on kidney disease, please visit www.kidneyresearchuk.org.