NKF-MD Bringing Free Kidney Health Assessment to B'More Healthy Expo, Mar. 19

LUTHERVILLE, Md. – As part of its National Kidney Month celebration, the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland (NKF-MD) will bring back its Kidney Health Risk Assessment (KHRA) to the B’More Healthy Expo, Saturday, Mar. 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Baltimore Convention Center (One West Pratt St.).
This free assessment helps identify adults at risk for chronic kidney disease and increases awareness of kidney disease risk factors in the community. The KHRA uses a simple Body Mass Index (BMI) calculation, blood pressure measurement and a short six-question questionnaire to make participants aware of their risk factors for chronic kidney disease.
Participants will receive brief consultations with physicians and dietitians to learn about kidney disease, as well as general nutrition and wellness guidelines.
Overall, kidney disease affects 26 million people – that’s one in nine Marylanders and one in eight in Baltimore. One in three American adults – 73 million people – are at risk for kidney disease, and the risk increases to one in two over the course of a lifetime.
In Baltimore, kidney disease is a hidden health crisis because African Americans make up more than 60 percent of the city’s population, and they are at increased risk for developing kidney disease.
Most people affected do not realize it until the condition has progressed. In fact, 25 percent of the 1,229 people screened in fiscal year 2015 by NKF-MD demonstrated significant results.
“For every 10 people who have kidney disease 9 of them do not know that they have it,” said Traci Barnett, NKF-MD’s president and CEO. “We encourage people to get tested because early detection and treatment can slow or prevent the progression of kidney disease. The B’More Healthy Expo provides a great opportunity for us to reach thousands of people in the Baltimore area who are at risk for kidney disease and don’t know it.”
For information about this KHRA event or NKF-MD’s other KHRA events and kidney screenings throughout Maryland and Delaware, call 410.494.8545 or visit www.kidneymd.org.

About NKF-MD
Serving central and western Maryland, the Delmarva Peninsula and portions of Virginia and West Virginia, the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland is the area’s only voluntary health agency dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. For more information, visit www.kidneymd.org.