Articles

UPMC presents Kidney Walk

Category: Health Published on Thursday, 17 December 2009 09:42 Written by Courier Newsroom

UPMC presented its Eighth Annual Pittsburgh Kidney Walk last month. More than 1,500 kidney transplant recipients and donors, transplant advocates, hospital representatives and members of the community attended the National Kidney Foundation’s event.

The walk featured live music and special appearances by Pittsburgh mascots at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, One in nine U.S. adults has kidney disease, and most don’t even know it. Kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders and increases the risk of heart disease.

Early detection and treatment can help to prevent kidney disease from progressing to kidney failure—a condition that requires dialysis or a transplant to maintain life. The walk helps to call attention to the need for early detection of kidney disease, while supporting the National Kidney Foundation’s patient services, public and professional initiatives and kidney research.

For more information, visit http://walk.kidney.org. Top left: Family and co-workers from Riverside Credit Union on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Top right: Beltzhoover residents came out in honor of Sharon Burks who had a transplant in 2005.