By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — It’s World Kidney Day, and awareness events were being held around the globe, including here in Philadelphia.

Today, at a health fair at Temple University’s Health Sciences Center in North Philadelphia, Dr. Crystal Gadegbeku, chief of nephrology and kidney transplantation at Temple University Hospital, noted that one in six people in Philadelphia are affected by kidney disease and most are undiagnosed.

(Dr. Crystal Gadegbeku. Credit: John McDevitt)

“It’s a silent disease,” Gadegbeku (right) said.  “You don’t feel anything, so you are not going to know it until you come to a doctor and get the attention — unless it’s way way too late and your kidneys are just about gone.  So, people have to be screened for these diseases.”

Gadegbeku says if you have high blood pressure, a family history of kidney disease, hypertension, or diabetes, you should get checked.

The National Kidney Foundation will have free screenings this Saturday at the Bourse Building, on 5th near Market, facing Independence Mall.  Registration is encouraged.

Details:
      Saturday March 16,2013
      10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
      Bourse Building-Lower level (5th & Market)

To register, contact Rachyel N’Diaye at 1-800-697 7007 or Rachel.ndiaye@kidney.org.