14 September 2009

Australia’s first Indigenous nephrologist (kidney specialist) Dr Jaqui Hughes, of Menzies School of Health Research, is seeking Indigenous participants to be involved in her ground-breaking research into developing more accurate kidney function tests. 

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders require a greater amount of in-hospital care than other Australians for kidney dialysis (14 times) and the rates of death are 8 – 10 times that of other Australians from diabetes”, informs Hughes who is a Torres Strait Islander herself.

There has been a rapid increase in kidney disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia over the last 20 years, most of which has been caused by diabetes. 

“Another shocking statistic,” reveals Hughes, “is that there is ten times the rate of diabetes in some remote Indigenous communities in the 20 – 50 age group, which is significantly higher than the rest of Australia”. 

“The results of this free study will not only have local relevance, but will have global importance, especially to community members whose body composition differs to that of a Caucasian European model,” said Dr Hughes, whose preliminary results caused great excitement at an international conference in Milan earlier this year.

Hughes believes that ‘The Accurate assessment of renal function and progression of chronic kidney disease in Indigenous Australians Study’ (eGFR Study) will allow for more confident treatment plans for those with kidney disease, and those at risk of kidney disease.

“The kidney has many functions, but it is essential to removing bodily waste.  If the kidney is badly damaged, then the waste can build up, causing other health concerns such as premature death, increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity – all of which are currently over-represented in Indigenous Australian”.

The current GFR (glomerular filtration rate) test, which was originally modeled in the US, relies heavily on a person’s body build and does not take into consideration the differences in body compositions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

“Many people don’t realise that body shape and muscle in the body are important factors in how we interpret the kidney blood test”, states Dr Hughes.

In Indigenous communities great differences exist in body shape and muscle mass between men and women, young and old people, and those who are healthy or with illness (for example people with type 2 diabetes). 

“We need to assess people who are healthy, those at risk for kidney disease, and those with kidney disease,” states Hughes, who is appealing to people of all health conditions to participate in this study.

“By measuring kidney function properly in healthy people, we can be sure we are able to identify when a patient shows signs of early kidney damage.”

“We can bring the study to the people, but it’s the involvement of the participants that will allow us to reach the goal of saving lives of people at risk of kidney disease,” concludes Hughes.

For further information about the project please contact Mary Ward - 0488590332