Coping with kidney disease

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – According to the CDC, kidney disease affects more than one in seven Americans.

Although lifestyle changes can help manage the disease, it is often difficult to detect.

Fifteen years ago, Scott Brunk was diagnosed with kidney disease. Since then, he has had pancreas transplants and kidney transplants.

"The kind of unstable management of diabetes was sort of the main cause of kidney failure," Brunk said.

Brunk has been treating type 1 diabetes for more than 40 years.

"In the United States, the most common cause of kidney disease is actually diabetes and hypertension, diabetes being the most common," said Dr. Christina Lankhorst.

Lankhorst says kidney disease is hard to detect, but because of Brunks' underlying diabetes condition, he was already screened.

"Sometimes the swelling of the legs, we can start to see that, but it's the difficult thing with kidney disease, it's very quiet to start," Lankhorst said.

"The first signs that I saw were edema of the face, hands, and legs." Decreased urination, blood in the urine, "Brunk said.

As the disease progresses, your kidneys begin to work overtime.

"You know, you're going through stage 1 kidney failure, stage 2 kidney failure, and I'm at stage 4 kidney failure right now," Brunk said.

Through a healthy lifestyle, Brunk has managed to manage the disease over the years.

"You need to be very careful about the amount of ibuprofen, at age, at advil, with this type of medication that may affect the kidney in the long run." But drink plenty of water , stay hydrated, observe "Lankhorst said.

Brunk is not only paying attention to his grocery lists, but he is now looking at another list.

"I hope that before dialysis I will be transplanted with a kidney," Brunk said.

It has been almost a year since Brunk was added to the kidney donation list, but research on the disease is lacking.

The United States spends a lot of money treating people with the disease rather than investing in clinical research.

Lankhorst says that lack of funding and knowledge is to blame.

"The most difficult part of kidney disease is that we do not really know what triggers a lot of these things, so it's hard to know where to begin research," Lankhorst said.

Brunk hopes that people will consider being a living donor.

"It can make a saving difference," said Brunk.

To know how to become a living donor, click here.