. "7 Renal Disease." The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation's Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.
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The Role of Nutrition in Maintaining Health in the Nation’s Elderly: Evaluating Coverage of Nutrition Services for the Medicare Population
TABLE 7.1 Renal Disease Population as of December 31, 1997
End-Stage Renal Disease Patients
Dialysis Patients
Number
Percent
Number
Percent
Total
304,083
100
221,596
100
Age Group
0–19
5,480
2
1,768
1
20–44
76,018
25
39,398
18
45–64
117,865
39
81,904
37
65–74
63,197
21
57,316
26
≥75
41,523
14
41,210
18
Race
Native American
4,614
2
3,663
2
Asian/Pacific Islander
10,795
4
7,885
4
African American
97,503
32
82,624
37
Caucasian
186,341
61
123,269
56
Other
4,830
2
4,155
2
Gender
Male
165,176
54
115,902
52
Female
138,907
46
105,694
48
Cause of ESRD
Diabetes
100,892
33
84,076
38
Hypertension
72,961
24
61,673
28
Glomerulonephritis
52,229
17
29,433
13
Other
78,001
26
46,414
21
SOURCE: USRDS (1999).
(USRDS, 1997). The high morbidity and mortality among dialysis patients has stimulated research into potentially correctable factors that are associated with increased risk of death. The search for antecedent factors requires consideration of earlier stages of chronic renal disease.
Renal disease is marked by a decrease in the ability of the kidney to excrete metabolic waste and a subsequent build up of urea and other nitrogenous waste in the blood. For the purpose of this report, three stages of chronic renal disease are considered: chronic renal insufficiency, ESRD, and post-renal transplantation. Chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) is defined as the stage of renal disease associated with a reduction in renal function not severe enough to require dialysis or transplantation (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] 13–50 ml/min/1.73 m2). ESRD is defined as chronic renal disease that necessitates treatment by dialysis or renal trans-
