In collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois (NKFI), Washington University nephrologist Anuja Java, MD, is helping raise awareness of kidney disease – often referred to as the “silent killer” – in the greater St. Louis area.
One in three people are at risk of developing kidney disease, which is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. The NFKI recently launched a “Kidney Health for Life” campaign to educate the public about the impact of kidney disease and to address the high rate of kidney disease in African American, Hispanic and Asian communities.
A focus of the Kidney Health for Life campaign is community health talks that are held at places of worship and community events in key cities throughout the area. The events promote healthy kidney nutrition and lifestyle practices and provide participants with information, resources and an emotional network.
Speaking with Paige Hulsey, news anchor and reporter at KMOV Channel 4 (8/5/2022), and John Pertzborn, co-anchor of FOX 2 News in the Morning at KTVI Channel 2 (8/12/2022), Dr. Java discusses the signs and symptoms of kidney disease, as well as how social factors and genetics influence the way the disease affects some communities more than others.
“Educating patients about their risk of kidney disease is the single most important first step,” says Java. “Therefore, I applaud NKFI for this campaign and thank them for involving me. Huge thanks also to KMOV and KTVI for partnering with us.
“Interestingly, one of my kidney transplant patients called me excitedly this morning to tell me that he saw my interview on KMOV and how he told his family members about NKFI. That makes all the effort worthwhile.”
Java is a renowned physician-scientist and expert in rare complement diseases and their involvement in kidney damage. She is the Director of Kidney Transplant at the John Cochran VA Medical Center. Read about her latest scientific publication here.
On Twitter, follow @anuja_java, @paigehulsey, @PERTZFOX, @KMOV, @FOX2now and @WUNephrology.
Watch the excellent interviews below.