May 1 is
5th Annual National High Potassium Awareness
Day
Alert Comes as FDA Advances Potassium-Based
Salt Substitutes and Ignores Kidney Community Concerns About Known
Risks to Vulnerable People
WASHINGTON, April 30,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of
Kidney Patients (AAKP), the oldest and largest independent kidney
patient consumer organization in the U.S., is raising public
awareness on May 1, National High Potassium Awareness Day,
about the devastating impacts of unmanaged potassium levels in
individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Nearly three million
Americans with CKD and/or heart failure live with high potassium
levels.
Many people with CKD, including those with kidney failure,
cannot properly excrete potassium. When a high amount of potassium
is consumed, including through the consumption of artificially
added potassium (e.g. salt substitutes), it accumulates in the
person's body. This elevated level of potassium, medically known as
hyperkalemia, can cause cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac
death.1 Immediate medical attention is required if
a person experiences hyperkalemia.
In 2020, AAKP launched National High Potassium Awareness Day to
raise awareness of high potassium, hyperkalemia, and related
serious medical consequences among highly vulnerable people.
May 1, 2024, marks AAKP's fifth
annual "Are You O-K+" campaign, which is managed
through AAKP's Center for Patient Research and Education.
The "Are You O-K+" campaign utilizes
the scientific symbol of potassium, "K+," with a popular
message, "Are You Ok," to encourage individuals
with kidney diseases to know their potassium level. A potassium of
5.1 mEq/L and higher may indicate hyperkalemia, making May 1 (5.1) the key time for this annual
awareness day. The campaign utilizes AAKP's highly sophisticated
and integrated digital platforms and grassroots networks to reach
and educate millions of at-risk Americans and their families on the
importance of managing potassium intake and levels.
In addition to the educational components of this year's
campaign, AAKP is activating its Action Center to mobilize
patients, and all people of goodwill concerned about kidney health,
to contact their Congressional representatives and the U.S
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr.
Robert M. Califf to express their
immediate concerns with the FDA Proposed Rule that would permit the
use of potassium-based salt substitutes in foods for which salt is
a required or optional ingredient.
During the open comment period for the FDA proposed rule, the
AAKP, Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), and the National
Kidney Foundation (NKF) submitted a joint
letter respectfully urging the FDA to reconsider the proposed
rule and focus on safer and more effective ways to reduce sodium
intake for the greater population. Given the very high
estimates of those who are unaware they have compromised kidney
function, and the clinical consequences of hyperkalemia, adding
"hidden potassium" in the form of potassium chloride substitutes to
the American diet is a risk that should not be taken. Further,
kidney disease disproportionately affects Black Americans as well
as other minority populations and those with lower income status
and food insecurity.2 Therefore, the risks associated
with the adoption of potassium-based salt substitutes would likely
exacerbate negative health outcomes among populations that already
face significant and historical risks.
AAKP President Edward V. Hickey,
III stated, "AAKP and allied kidney health organizations
work diligently to educate patients and professionals on the
dangers of high potassium and the impact adverse events can have on
people, the healthcare system, and taxpayers. We strongly
encourage the FDA to demonstrate greater leadership and proactively
engage the kidney stakeholder community before any new policy
allowing potassium-based salt substitutes is finalized. Government
Determinants of Health (GDoH) occur when agencies knowingly or
unwittingly take actions that harm patients and, in this case, the
FDA is fully aware of the risks their proposed action will have
among Americans with poor kidney health." Hickey is a U.S.
Marine Corps Veteran, Chair of AAKP's Veterans Health
Initiative, and has a professional background that includes senior
posts on Capitol Hill and in two presidential administrations.
The national, bipartisan policy consensus for addressing kidney
disease, established under multiple presidential administrations
and multiple Congresses, prioritizes greater disease prevention,
upstream disease detection and earlier intervention, better care
management, and avoidance of preventable kidney failure and the
need for organ transplants and/or dialysis. More than 37 million
Americans are living with kidney diseases, more than 800,000 have
kidney failure and need dialysis or a transplant to live, and
nearly 90,000 are awaiting a kidney transplant. The costs of kidney
care to the American taxpayer and health system exceed $100 billion dollars a year. AAKP has targeted
Government Determinants of Health (GDoH) as a key risk factor for
Americans trying to manage kidney disease and avoid kidney failure.
GDoH occurs when federal healthcare agencies lose sight of their
primary duty to safeguard the vulnerable populations they serve and
instead of acting as a problem solver, government itself becomes a
barrier to improved clinical outcomes and an exacerbator of health
disparity.
In 2018, AAKP launched the first and largest non-partisan voter
education and registration effort, KidneyVoter™, in the kidney
community. AAKP plans to engage and mobilize over 500,000
KidneyVoters™ in 2024 to make certain issues impacting the lives
and livelihoods of kidney patients are not overlooked by candidates
and elected leaders.
To support this year's National High Potassium Awareness Day,
kidney advocates and others of goodwill can engage in the following
efforts: send a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf and Congressional leaders
through AAKP's Action Center in opposition of the proposed
salt-substitute rule; register for this year's "Are You O-K+"
virtual event held on May 1 from
1:00-2:00 p.m.ET at
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AreYouOK2024; and visit
www.areyouok.org to access educational resources about high
potassium and kidney disease, patient stories, and additional AAKP
materials including AAKP's Nutrition Counter and
Understanding the Food Nutrition Facts Label brochures, all seven
editions of AAKP Delicious! kidney-friendly recipes,
and our latest webinar on the essential role of diet in kidney
health.
Since 1969, The American Association of Kidney Patients has been
a patient-led organization driving policy discussions on kidney
patient care choice and medical innovation. Over the past decade,
AAKP patient advocates have helped advance lifetime transplant drug
coverage for kidney transplant recipients (2020); the Presidential
Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health (2019);
new job protections for living organ donors under the Family
Medical Leave Act (FMLA) via the U.S. Department of Labor (2018);
and Congressional legislation allowing HIV-positive organ
transplants for HIV-positive patients (2013). Follow AAKP on social
media at @kidneypatient on
Facebook, @kidneypatients on X,
and @kidneypatients on Instagram, and
visit www.aakp.org for more information.
1 American Association of Kidney Patients.
(2023, January 12). Hyperkalemia.
Retrieved July 21, 2023, from
https://aakp.org/center-for-patient-research-and-education/hyperkalemia/
2 National Kidney Foundation. (2023, March 8). Minorities and Kidney Disease.
Retrieved July 21, 2023, from
https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/minorities-KD
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jennifer
Rate
Director, Communications and Digital Operations
jrate@aakp.org
(813) 400-2394
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SOURCE American Association of Kidney Patients