La enfermedad renal afecta a más de uno de cada siete adultos en los EE. UU., y nueve de diez de esos adultos no sabe que la padece.

Los riñones son órganos del tamaño del puño que se encuentran a la mitad de la espalda y cuya función principal es filtrar los desechos y el líquido de la sangre. Los riñones también controlan y ajustan los niveles de electrolitos en la sangre y producen hormonas para que el cuerpo genere glóbulos rojos y los huesos se mantengan saludables.

“A pesar de que no siempre puede eliminar sus posibilidades de presentar insuficiencia renal, conocer su riesgo y actuar en función de los problemas potenciales puede reducir las probabilidades o retrasar la aparición de la enfermedad renal crónica”, mencionó Angel Cisneros, parte del equipo de nefrología de los Servicios Renales de Intermountain Health.

Cisneros sugiere que las personas utilicen una herramienta gratuita de detección sistemática de la Fundación Nacional del Riñón disponible en www.minuteforyourkidneys.org, o que hablen con su médico.

“Una conversación con su médico puede servirle para comprender si está en riesgo”, expresó Cisneros. Son muchos los factores que pueden causar daños renales, como la presión arterial elevada, que un médico puede ayudarle a tratar”.

Los factores de riesgo para la enfermedad renal incluyen los siguientes:

• Presión arterial elevada
• Diabetes
• Enfermedad cardiaca
• Enfermedad autoinmune
• Defectos anatómicos
• Enfermedades genéticas
• Obesidad
• Tabaquismo

 “Muchos riesgos son genéticos por naturaleza, pero eso no quiere decir que usted y su médico no pueden tratarlos”, añadió Cisneros. “Otros, como el tabaquismo, tienen un gran impacto y usted puede actuar de inmediato.

Cisneros indicó que es muy importante que las personas conozcan su riesgo. Intermountain Health está tomando las medidas para evaluar a cada paciente a través de su médico. “Esto no quiere decir que el personal de salud ha estado descuidando a sus pacientes, sino que estamos facilitándoles a ellos y sus pacientes la tarea de evaluar el riesgo”.

Esta prueba ya forma parte de un grupo habitual de análisis de laboratorio que un médico puede ordenar, y se llama puntaje de riesgo renal, que proporciona un estimado del riesgo que corre una persona de desarrollar insuficiencia renal en los próximos cinco años. Para esto, se requiere un análisis estándar de sangre y orina al mismo tiempo durante una visita al laboratorio. El puntaje de riesgo renal no se realiza para todos los pacientes, pero las personas con diabetes o que corren mayor riesgo de padecer enfermedad renal crónica debido a los factores de riesgo mencionados antes deben controlarse el puntaje de riesgo renal todos los años.

“También es importante destacar que, para los pacientes, el puntaje de riesgo renal no implica un gasto adicional a los costos habituales de los análisis individuales de sangre y orina”, añade Cisneros.

Cisneros mencionó que las personas con riesgo de padecer una enfermedad renal crónica deben hablar con su médico de cabecera acerca de las formas de mantener los riñones saludables. Sin embargo, aquellos con un puntaje de riesgo renal mayor que el 5 % deben ser derivados a un nefrólogo (especialista en riñón) para recibir recomendaciones específicas para su salud renal.

Para obtener más información acerca de la salud renal, Intermountain Health sugiere visitar http://www.Intermountain.com/kidney, www.minuteforyourkidneys.org, o hablar con su médico.

###

Kidney disease affects more than one in seven adults in the United States, and yet nine out of ten of them are not aware of it.

The kidneys are fist sized organs located in the middle of a persons back with the primary function of filtering waste and fluid from the body’s blood. Kidneys also control and adjust electrolyte levels in the blood as well as make hormones that help your body make red blood cells and keep your bones healthy.

“Although you can’t always eliminate your chances of kidney failure, knowing your risk and acting on potential problems can lower your chances or delay on set of chronic kidney disease,” said Bogdan Anea, MD, a board-certified nephrologist with Intermountain Health Kidney Services.

Dr. Anea suggests individuals participate in a free self-screening tool available online at www.minuteforyourkidneys.org from the National Kidney Foundation, or talking with your doctor.

“A conversation with your doctor can help you understand if you are at risk,” said Dr. Anea. "There are many things that can cause kidney damage, such as high blood pressure, which your doctor can help you address.”

Risk factors for chronic kidney disease include:

• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Autoimmune disease
• Anatomical defects
• Genetic diseases
• Obesity
• Smoking

 “Many risks are genetic in nature, but that doesn’t mean you and your doctor can’t address them,” said Dr. Anea. “Others, such as smoking, are highly impactful and you can act immediately.”

Dr. Anea said it is so important that individual’s know their risk, Intermountain Health is taking steps to evaluate every patient through their doctor. 

“It is not like providers have been neglecting their patients, but we are making it easier for them and their patients to evaluate their risk," he added. 

This test is now part of a regular bundle of lab tests a doctor can order called the Kidney Risk Score that provides an estimate of a person’s risk of kidney failure in the next five years.

This requires a standard blood and urine test done at the same time during a visit to the laboratory. The Kidney Risk Score isn’t done for every patient, but persons with diabetes or at higher risk for chronic kidney disease due to the risk factors listed above should have their Kidney Risk Score checked annually.

“It is also important to note the Kidney Risk Score does not come at an additional expense to patients beyond the usual costs of the individual blood and urine tests,” said Dr. Anea.

Dr. Anea said persons with any risk for chronic kidney disease should discuss ways to keep their kidneys healthy with their primary care provider. However, those with a Kidney Risk Score higher than 5% should be referred to a nephrologist (kidney specialist) for individualized kidney health recommendations.

For more information on kidney health, go to http://www.Intermountain.com/kidney or talk to your doctor.

###

A chance meeting on “Y Mountain” in Provo, Utah, led to a life-saving kidney transplant for a local pastor whose health was deteriorating and was desperately waiting for an organ donor. 

The two returned to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, where a kidney transplant happens every 32 hours. Their goal was to reconnect with Intermountain surgeons, nurses, physicians, and the transplant care team to offer their life-saving gratitude and to share their unique story. 

Krissy Miller, a 49-year-old mother of four and hiker from Provo, felt a strong connection with Shiller Joseph, a 45-year-old pastor from Florida, when they crossed paths on the trail on “Y Mountain” in Provo on that fateful day in September 2023. 

Miller struck up a conversation with him and at one point asked, “What do you like about Utah?” 

“I moved up on the transplant list,” responded Joseph, who suffers from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that damaged his kidneys. 

Right there, Miller offered to give him one of her kidneys, after several tests, they found out they were a perfect match. 

On April 2, 2024, Miller and Joseph underwent successful surgeries at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, to complete an unlikely connection that resulted in a life-saving donation for Joseph. 

Living kidney donors can save the life of a family member, friend, neighbor or even a stranger. 

With more than 90,000 people across the country waiting for a kidney transplant, living kidney donors can offer them a second chance at life. 

“The gift of life that comes from a living donor transplant can provide a shorter wait time, reduce the risk of complications and offer a better chance for long-term success for the person who receives your kidney,” said Donald Morris, MD, Intermountain Health kidney transplant medical director. “Our living kidney donor program is committed to helping patients achieve transplant while maintaining the highest standards of health and safety for donors and recipients.” 

Since Intermountain Health’s living kidney donor program started in 1983, surgeons have performed more than 1,400 living donor transplants and more than 3,600 total kidney transplants and have achieved outcomes that exceed national averages. 

In the last nine years, Intermountain Health has also seen a 458% increase in kidney transplants and has become the number one transplant program in the United States for living donations on the adult kidney transplant wait list. 

“As one of the first comprehensive kidney transplant centers in the U.S., our renowned program has developed many of the techniques and treatments used nationwide today for transplants,” said Jean Botha, MD, medical director of Intermountain Health’s abdominal transplant program. “In fact, recent studies have found the last decade to be a lot safer for living donors.” 

A Stranger’s Gift 
Miller had wanted to be a kidney donor, ever since she saw a Facebook post in 2022 about a father in need of a transplant. 

She even went through the screening process but did not pass and was told she had to lower her blood sugar and lose some weight before she could donate. 

Miller put the thought of donating out of her mind, but decided to start hiking Y Mountain, three times a week – a 2.2-mile round trip hike with more than 1,000 feet elevation gain. 

During the next year, Miller lost 37 pounds and felt healthier than ever. The thought of donating a kidney came back into her mind. She prayed for guidance before one of her hikes. On that very hike, she met Joseph and his wife, Rhona who had recently moved from Florida to start a ministry in Utah. 

She struck up a conversation with them and soon learned she and Joseph both had the same blood type, O+. 

She was moved by his story and said, "What if I give you one of my kidneys?" 

Joseph was humbled by her offer, and said, "Whatever God tells you." 

The two exchanged information and kept in touch, forming an unlikely friendship between the two and their families. 

On March 5, 2024, Miller went through another series of tests, and soon after Meleta Egbert, Intermountain Health transplant coordinator, told her she was a "good match" for Joseph. 

“Telling donors and recipients they are a match is the best part of my job,” said Egbert. “Seeing how Krissy, a total stranger was willing to change Shiller’s life, was just heartwarming, beautiful and actually surprisingly not that unusual here in Utah and for the Intermountain Health transplant program.” 

Over the last three years Intermountain has transplanted 21 Good Samaritan or non-directed living kidney donors. 

“These donors selflessly gave the gift of life to a someone they didn’t know,” said Dr. Morris. 

When it came time to share the news, Miller surprised Joseph with some homemade rolls and a sign and that said, "I kid you not! Let’s get this surgery, ‘roll’-ing! You're getting a kidney!” 

Joseph was speechless, in tears, overjoyed and grateful for her generosity. 

“How is this lady a match? She doesn’t even know me, but she was teaching me faith and trust,” said Joseph. 

Joseph had been diagnosed with lupus when he was younger, but his condition worsened in 2020, when he was as he says, “A Snickers bar away from being obese.” 

When Joseph’s lupus came out of remission with a vengeance he had to start dialysis, three times a week, and he could no longer work. 

Joseph, a former paramedic, wanted to lose some weight and started hiking trails with his wife. 
On September 14, 2023, his first time on Y Mountain, he met Miller and felt an instant bond with her. 

After three years of dialysis and only a year on the waiting list, Joseph got his new kidney. 

“Had I stayed in Florida, I would have waited at least eight years,” said Joseph. 

Intermountain Health’s transplant program has one of the shortest wait times in the country and is recognized for providing the best match for incompatible pairs and compatible pairs, like Miller and Joseph. 

Joseph now calls Krissy Miller his sister and angel, and says she saved his life. 

"We may look different, but we're all the same on the inside," Joseph said. He hopes their story will inspire others to consider becoming organ donors, and to see the humanity in everyone they meet. 

Last year, just 6,290 of the nation’s more than 27,000 kidney transplants came from living donors. 

Finding a living donor not only shortens the national waiting list, but those organs also tend to survive longer than ones from deceased donors. 

To learn more about living kidney donation at Intermountain Health, go here. 

### 
 

A teen from Annabella, Utah is heading back to school and sports after a rare, second kidney transplant, with an altruistic kidney donor-turned-friend, and help from caregivers from Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital who went above and beyond to bring pediatric dialysis services to the hospital to help the high school student survive and thrive.

Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital coordinated with Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital to bring pediatric dialysis to its campus to help 17-year-old Richfield High swim and South Sevier tennis student athlete Henry Coulter get the life-saving care he needed close to home.

Now, thanks to the organ transplant that helped save his life and the support of Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital and the community, Henry celebrated his first plunge in the Richfield pool this month and will start workouts with the Richfield High swim team this fall.

“We have had lots of ups and lots of downs throughout Henry’s health journey, and this year has had some amazing ups because of his organ donor and the pediatric nephrologists who have made sure he had all that he needed,” said Henry’s mom, Alisa Coulter. “I can’t say it enough, how much we appreciate them.”

Henry was 15 months old when he got sick with pneumonia. He then developed the rare disease atypical HUS, a strep infection that typically affects children up to age 3.

The childhood vaccine preventing the disease hadn’t been developed yet, and the infection attacked Henry’s liver, lungs, and pancreas, and put him at risk for stroke.

Henry got well, but his kidneys never recovered. He got a kidney transplant at age 2, with his dad, Matthew, as the organ donor.

The Coulters knew Henry would need a second transplant by the time Henry reached adulthood.

Henry’s kidneys steadily lost function as he grew. When his kidney function dropped to just 24 percent, doctors put him on the transplant list waiting for a deceased donor, as planned.

They hoped a donor kidney would become available in a year or so, without Henry needing dialysis.

Unfortunately, Henry got sick with flu last December. In January, on his first day of work as a lifeguard at the Richfield pool, he had intense stomach pain.

He ended up hospitalized, and in kidney failure. He left the hospital on dialysis and needed a kidney transplant within six months.

Dialysis required a 4 a.m. start to the day, three times a week, and drive to Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, 165 miles away from his town of Annabella, which has fewer than 900 residents.

Treatments impacted Henry mentally, educationally, and emotionally.

He couldn’t be in crowds and was frequently exhausted. He had to switch to online schooling. He was missing out on life and relationships. He couldn’t swim because of the dialysis catheter, and instead watched from the stands as his team competed in the state meet.

"Henry is an incredible young man, but having to travel to Salt Lake from Richfield for dialysis three days a week would take a toll on anyone," said Stephanie Baker, dialysis supervisor at Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital.

The Intermountain Sevier Valley Dialysis team wanted to help Henry get back to the life that he had previously enjoyed, so they went to work to make it happen.

"Since he was only 16, we had to work with Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital to obtain the equipment and training needed to provide dialysis care for Henry so he could receive treatment here in our community,” Baker noted.

It was a first for Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital, and a success.

Henry was able to continue playing with his tennis team at South Sevier High, which lifted his spirits. Now, Sevier Valley Hospital will be a care home base for Henry and other children in the community who need dialysis in the future.

“Intermountain Primary Children’s and Intermountain Sevier Valley Hospital made it easy-peasy for Henry,” his mom said.

“The pediatric nephrologists are more than just doctors to Henry,” she added. “They have known him since he was small. They joke and tease with him, and truly are a care team for him. They have literally revived him back to life, and had sleepless nights as we have called them for help, and kept him alive through many hospital stays. I’m so glad they were able to bring this level of care to Sevier Valley for Henry.”

Still, Henry needed a kidney transplant. Despite his community’s rally in search of a donor, there was no match.

But in a city 150 miles away in Draper, Utah, soon-to-be retired Army National Guard Major Monica Leger was looking for a child to donate her kidney to and help save a life.

Leger had been thinking about donating for about five years. And with her Guard retirement date in sight, she knew everything was aligning to make her wish a reality.

She approached the University of Utah to become an altruistic donor for a child.

“I had two kidneys, and I didn’t need both,” Leger said. “I donated because I could.”

On transplant day, Henry didn’t know who his donor was, or whether they’d ever meet.

He made a thank-you gift basket of the foods he wanted to eat post-transplant, like chocolate milk, potato chips, Takis and dried mangoes; the foods he was eating on the “kidney diet,” including Fig newtons, Cranberry Juice, and candy; and a personalized blanket.

Leger was in her hospital room after surgery, on her 45th birthday, when Henry’s gift arrived. Her birthday was now Henry’s transplant birthday.

"The retirement honors time, the birthday marks time, the kidney donation gives time,” Leger said. “I’m glad Henry will now be here to make those big lifetime decisions.”

Henry recalls waking up from surgery with a rush of energy he’d never experienced before. “I seriously I sat up and asked if I could stand up because I was feeling so energized, even after anesthesia,” he said. “There was no grogginess at all. It was crazy how different I felt with a working kidney.”

As fate would have it, Henry’s family and Leger have become friends.

In July, Henry celebrated his 17th birthday at Leger’s retirement party. Leger has challenged Henry to a push-up contest, reminding him that she gave him a great kidney that got her through two boot-camps and a couple of marathons.

Henry starts his senior year at South Sevier High this week, and is well enough to continue his athletic co-op with Richfield High, where he is on the swim team. The first week of August, he was healed up and safe to swim again.

He came back to the Lifeguard job he had for just one day before getting sick. He’ll have his first Richfield High Swim Team workout in September, which his mom calls his “full-circle moment.” His tennis game is getting stronger.

Now, he hopes his story can inspire others to become organ donors and save lives.

“Organ donation is safe, and the donor means everything to people like me,” Henry said. “It’s someone who would sacrifice some of their own body to help another person. Monica has been a big inspiration to other people – even my uncle decided to become an organ donor because of her. I just hope our story brings to light how much of a difference living donors can make to people who need it.”

###

NOTE TO MEDIA: Images and video available upon request.