Students Promote Keeping 'A Fit Filter' with Free Screenings at Kidney Action Day in Houston Oct. 4

UH College of Pharmacy encouraged Houston-area residents to work toward a "fit filter" with free wellness screenings and education at the 2015 Kidney Action Day Oct. 4 at Discovery Green in downtown Houston. 

Fifteen UH Pharm.D. students provided more than 400 blood glucose and blood pressure screenings as well as taking body-mass index (BMI) measurements at the annual event, which is organized by the American Kidney Fund (AKF).

According to the AKF, an estimated 31 million people in the U.S. are living with CKD, the nation’s ninth-leading cause of death. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of CKD, but there are other major risk factors, such as having heart disease, being over 60, and being African American, Asian American, Native American or of Hispanic ethnicity. Left undiagnosed and untreated, CKD can lead to heart attacks, stroke, kidney failure and death.