Winnipeg doctor’s Kidney-Failure Model Going Global

A Winnipeg researcher’s work has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on predicting the risk of kidney failure.

Dr. Navdeep Tangri developed a risk equation using Canadian patient data and his work will be adopted globally.

“As a kidney doctor, I found so many of my patients were coming to my clinic and asking the two most important questions on their mind. The first one being, ‘why do I have kidney disease’, and the second one was, ‘ am I going to be on dialysis?’ Dialysis is such a major, transformative event in peoples’ lives that this was their biggest fear.”

While one in eight Manitobans has kidney disease, kidney failure, where dialysis or a transplant is needed, is more rare.

Tangri’s model was just tested in 30 countries, and the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows it’s a good test. Tangri says this sets the stage for it to be used in hospitals around the world.

“Not only will your doctor tell you that you have kidney disease, he’ll precisely be able to tell you whether you need to worry, with a lot of confidence,” he said.

Agencies/Canadajournal