Kidney disease affects one of the seven Americans. March is World Kidney Month, aimed at raising awareness of kidney health. Some 886,800 people in Washington state have chronic kidney disease, which often has no symptoms until very late.

“The incidence of kidney disease among American adults has increased 30 percent in the past 10 years,” said Joyce Jackson, president and chief executive of Northwest Kidney Centers, the largest non-profit kidney dialysis organization serving King County. “Kidney disease is more than a personal health issue. It’s a public health issue too.”

Thirty percent of the country’s Medicare budget is spent treating kidney disease and 7 percent is spent on dialysis treatment, Jackson noted.

“A significant portion of our public health care dollars are being spent on a disease that in many cases can be prevented.”

The nonprofit Northwest Kidney Centers provides 80 percent of the dialysis care in King and Clallam counties, educates the public about kidney health, and collaborates with UW Medicine in the Kidney Research Institute.

Northwest Kidney Centers’ staff of 550 delivers more than 200,000 treatments per year in 14 dialysis centers and 11 hospitals. It also maintains one of the country’s largest training and support programs for people who wish to give themselves dialysis at home.

Learn more at www.nwkidney.org.