The Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly alliance announced Wednesday that the Department of Health has approved funding for Jardiance (empagliflozin) to treat adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD), which has been shown to reduce the risk of developing kidney disease. Illness or death due to cardiovascular disease, in addition to the risk of hospitalization for any reason.
As explained in the press conference, this is a drug that has already been used in Spain to treat patients with type 2 diabetes and heart failure. It will be available for new use in the ERC from Friday. Hospitalizations account for one-third to one-half of the total health care costs of people with chronic kidney disease. In total, this disease affects 1 in 7 people in Spain, i.e. 15 percent of the population. Since the early stages of the disease pass without symptoms, many people may not realize that they have it. In fact, it is estimated that 2 out of every 3 patients are not diagnosed.
In addition, chronic kidney disease doubles the risk of hospitalization and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In Spain, treatment of the most advanced stages of CKD represents approximately 3 percent of health care expenditures of the National Health System (SNS) and 4 percent of specialized hospital care.
Impact of chronic kidney disease
People with chronic kidney disease experience decreased quality of life in advanced stages of the disease, often due to the high burden of symptoms and treatments. Likewise, depression affects up to one-third of diagnosed kidney patients overall, and is diagnosed more frequently in people with advanced kidney disease. “Early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease is an appropriate and cost-effective intervention for the NHS. Although we refer to a silent disease, we know the risk factors that increase the likelihood of its development. This early approach can reduce the risk of deterioration,” said Dr. “It's about kidney function, kidney failure and hospitalization,” says José Luis Gorez, head of the Nephrology Service at Hospital Clínic Universitare de Valencia.
For her part, Dr. Flora Lopez Simaro, a specialist in family medicine, pointed out that what is “worrying” is that people with chronic kidney disease have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease (90%), and 10% of those infected end up dying. With cardiovascular diseases. End-stage kidney disease, i.e. the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. The expert pointed out that “the Emirates Red Crescent Authority meets the characteristics recommended by the World Health Organization for conducting examinations for chronic diseases,” praising the “fundamental” role of primary care in early diagnosis. In this case, the specialist explained that to diagnose chronic kidney disease, two tests accessible from primary care must be taken into account: a blood test, which checks how effectively the kidneys filter the blood, and a urinalysis, which measures the presence of both. Albumin and creatinine in urine. López Cimaro lamented that there is “ignorance” in society and a “lack of sensitivity” to this disease.
For this reason, he urged a focus on the highest-risk groups that have the highest prevalence of perforation. The first will be diabetics, 40% of whom have chronic kidney disease. The second group will be for patients over the age of 65, as “kidney function is lost with age, and 33% of patients over the age of 65 suffer from chronic kidney disease.” Third, he requested tests for patients with high blood pressure, as 22 percent of them have chronic kidney disease. Finally, he also requested examinations for patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. He pointed out that “there is a close relationship between the heart and the kidneys. When one of them gets sick, the other gets sick.” The doctor also explained that 60 percent of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease are in the intermediate stages, so they are not close to the events of suffering. These are patients who are in AP. “Fortunately, there is a wide margin to do things,” he celebrated. In his opinion, this drug is “important” for AP, because it can greatly help in the early treatment of this group of patients.
Time without progress
For his part, Dr. Gorez stressed that “history is being made” because “many years” have passed since the last recorded drug developments in chronic kidney disease. In fact, a patient with CKD was always associated with dialysis. The success of this new treatment lies in the patient's condition not developing into kidney failure. Now, with these drugs, the disease is “reversed.” “Nephrologists offer 3/4/24 15:35 Sanitat approves Jardiance (Boehringer Ingelheim & Lilly) for patients with chronic kidney disease to be monitored in AP,” he celebrated. “It changes our lives and our patients’ expectations,” he replied. After the early stages, the drug is also useful in advanced cases of chronic kidney disease. “It has a very important impact at all stages of the disease, especially in the initial stages, where it is actually preventable. The sad thing is that chronic kidney disease is diagnosed in the emergency room,” he concluded.
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