Doctors calling on NHS to roll out urine test to catch life-threatening kidney disease cases early

Half of life-threatening kidney disease cases remain undiagnosed, experts have warned.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often does not present symptoms until the organs are about to fail, leaving an estimated one million people unaware they are ill.

Clinicians are now calling on the NHS to roll out a urine test to catch the disease early.

‘Simple tests can increase early detection of CKD,’ says Professor Adeera Levin, a kidney expert at the University of British Columbia.

‘We now have a terrific array of medications to delay or indeed stop kidney disease progressing, so that early identification is really important.’

CKD affects more than seven million Britons and contributes to around 45,000 deaths a year. The lack of symptoms likely contributes to low rates of diagnosis and awareness.

Currently it is estimated that around 30 to 50 per cent of cases are not diagnosed by a doctor.

CKD occurs when the two organs – which remove waste products from the blood and produce urine – no longer work as well as they should. It typically gets worse over time and the damage is irreversible.

Experts say that patients with diabetes and high blood pressure should be regularly tested for the early signs of CKD.

Research by the charity Kidney Care UK shows that 65 per cent of people with diabetes and high blood pressure who later developed CKD were not told they were at higher risk.

Almost 40 per cent of people with diabetes are also missing out on simple urine tests that can identify early signs of kidney damage and allow treatment that can slow or halt progression. Experts are now calling on the Government to take action.

Alison Railton, director of policy at Kidney Research UK, said: ‘Governments need to prioritise resourcing health services to diagnose at-risk patients, such as those with heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes earlier, and deliver urgent, preventative care – or millions of patients and economies worldwide will suffer the consequences.’