A disproportionate number of the 37 million Americans that have kidney disease are of African American, Hispanic, Asian, or Native American descent. The use of race modifiers in the clinical algorithms used to detect and manage kidney disease have contributed to major kidney-health disparities among these ethnic minority groups.
NKF-ASN Task Force: Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney DiseasesOn July 2, 2020, the National Kidney Foundation(NKF) and the American Society of Nephrology(ASN) announced the formation of a joint task force to reassess the inclusion of race in diagnosing kidney disease. As part of this initiative, the two organisations set out to:
- achieve a consensus on replacing race-based equations for estimating glomerular filtration rate (eGFR);
- assess the challenges brought on by implementing alternative methods; and
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make recommendations as to the best approach for replacing current eGFR equations.
One key advantage of measuring cystatin C in addition to creatinine stems from the fact that cystatin C is less susceptible to factors that affect muscle mass (age, diet, sex, physical activity, etc.). Cystatin C is ubiquitously expressed through all nucleated cells. Individuals with similar kidney function can therefore be expected to have similar serum concentrations of cystatin C. This means that equations used for calculating GFR do not depend on an individual's muscle mass or race.
Get in touchIf you and your colleagues would like to learn more about cystatin C and how you could incorporate this test into clinical workflows within your organization, please contact us via marketing@gentian.com, call 833-436-8426 (US customers) or fill out the form below:
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Gentian Diagnostics AS published this content on 24 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 24 September 2021 09:11:04 UTC.