People with Diabetes and HBP May Not Donate Kidneys

Yes, you read this right! The reason is most people with diabetes and high blood pressure (HBP) may have kidney damage that would not support living on one kidney.

Researchers are saying that donors with those conditions face a high risk of developing kidney problems themselves, and may need both kidneys in the long term. The advisory is part of a set of new metrics, based on a donor’s health prior to donation, that can predict the lifetime incidence of kidney failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

Dr. Hassan Ibrahim, a nephrologist at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, led the team that looked at the health impacts from diabetes and high blood pressure, or hypertension, in living kidney donors. They found that people who have diabetes or high blood pressure have a two to four times higher chance of experiencing reduced kidney function compared to those who do not.

Dr. Darla Granger, director of the St. John Transplant Specialty Center in Michigan, and a transplant surgeon, said that people with diabetes are ruled out as donors at her facility. If a person has high blood pressure and wishes to donate a kidney, they may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Both conditions are top causes of kidney failure. “You don’t want to create end-stage renal disease in someone because you took their kidney,” she said. However, both hypertension and diabetes can be reversed with lifestyle and diet changes. Donors who can reform their lifestyles may be reconsidered, she said.

Both conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure are the top causes of kidney failure. Granger said, “If a person has high blood pressure and wishes to donate a kidney, they may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Obesity is affecting the donor kidney pool and type 2 diabetes is a disease related to obesity. ”

There are so many more people waiting for kidneys than there are available donors. People with diabetes or hypertension who want to help another person by donating a kidney may not realize that they could wind up hurting themselves in the long run. “You don’t want to create end-stage renal disease in someone because you took their kidney,” she said. “But both hypertension and diabetes can be reversed with lifestyle and diet changes. Donors who can reform their lifestyles may be reconsidered,” she said.