A Glasgow woman who was forced to cut her career short after being diagnosed with kidney disease initially thought there was something wrong with her heart.
Angela Riley, who has type 2 diabetes, was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in 2020. Although 40 per cent of people with diabetes go on to develop CKD, the news came as a nasty surprise to Angela.
Angela’s health took a downward turn just as Scotland went into lockdown. Concerned there might be something wrong with her heart, Angela’s GP referred her for an echocardiogram. But it soon became clear there was an issue with her kidneys.
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“It came as a total shock. I knew that diabetes could affect your kidneys but I didn’t really know how and I had never even heard of CKD,” Angela said.
She continued: “I was sent to my local hospital for lots of tests and was told I had a problem with my kidneys, but nobody mentioned CKD to me until the second or third appointment when I told them I needed to tell my employers what was wrong with me.
“In April 2022, my eGFR [kidney function] rate dropped rapidly and my blood pressure was sky high. It was then that my consultant told me it was no longer a case of if I will need dialysis but when.
“I don’t really think I took it all onboard at first. I remember telling my husband ‘They kept talking about a transplant list today but I’m not going to need a transplant – I’ll be fine with dialysis’. But then it hit me that dialysis isn’t a cure, it’s a treatment. So, unless I do get a transplant I’ll be on dialysis for the rest of my life. That realisation hit me as if someone had slapped me. It hadn’t sunk in until then.”
Angela was forced to take ill health retirement from her job as an addiction worker, where she helped people with alcohol and drug problems.
Now about to start dialysis treatment, she has joined Kidney Research UK’s campaign calling for the Scottish Government to implement a national strategy to tackle kidney disease.
The ‘Ken Yer Kidneys’ campaign launched this week to show Scotland’s policymakers the urgent need to prevent and treat chronic kidney disease (CKD), with a focus on early diagnosis of at-risk individuals.
Kidney Research UK estimates that around a quarter of a million people in Scotland are currently living with kidney disease, but many more are undiagnosed, as Angela was a few years ago. As the number of people in the country who are reliant on dialysis or transplants to stay alive has more than doubled in the past thirty years, the research organisation is calling for urgent action.
CKD is a long-term condition that can see kidney function worsen over time. There are usually no symptoms of kidney disease in the early stages and it can go undiagnosed unless you have a blood or urine test for another reason. When the condition worsens, the NHS notes symptoms as tiredness, swollen ankles, feet or hands, shortness of breath, feeling sick, or blood in your pee.
The charity is asking the Government to develop and deploy a set of standardised care practices for kidney patients in Scotland that focus on early diagnosis and prevention. The strategy should also make use of Scotland’s data networks to share patient information and distribute new and updated guidance and protocols across regional healthcare teams to enable high quality, joined-up care and management.
“I had no idea that CKD was more prevalent than cancer in Scotland. Despite this, there is no unified system to tackle kidney disease,” Angela said.
“If you have CKD you should have access to high quality treatment, regardless of where you live – but that’s not happening and that’s shocking.
“If we had standardised guidelines that everyone could follow people would be better educated about kidney disease and patients would be able to get help sooner. And this should include educating people with diabetes to help them reduce their risks of developing CKD.”
Sandra Currie, chief executive of Kidney Research UK, said: “Early diagnosis and prevention is the best defence against kidney disease whilst our huge efforts continue to find a cure, but far too many at-risk patients are being missed. With insufficient data and room for improvement around monitoring and measuring disease, a timely diagnosis is not available to everyone across Scotland - many are being let down. Patients like Angela shouldn’t face dialysis as an inevitability. A national strategy with an emphasis on early detection is the best action to halt the significant rise in the number of people developing CKD in Scotland."
To support the campaign visit www.kidneyresearchuk.org/support/campaign/scotland/.
The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.
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