{"id":444773,"date":"2026-05-25T19:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/444773\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T19:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T19:09:11","slug":"nz-health-services-struggling-to-cope-with-rapid-rise-of-silent-killer-linked-to-diabetes-and-high-blood-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/444773\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ health services struggling to cope with rapid rise of silent killer linked to diabetes and high blood pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NickyNicky Pellegrino<\/a><\/p>\n

Health writer\u00b7New Zealand Listener\u00b7<\/p>\n

25 May, 2026 06:10 PM4 mins to read<\/p>\n

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Renal specialist Curtis Walker describes chronic kidney disease as a growth industry. Image \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

A common disease that is known as a silent killer is on the rise worldwide. More than 550,000 New Zealanders \u2013 about one in 10 \u2013 are suffering from it, according to the Kidney Society, although many will be unaware. <\/p>\n

\n We could be doing far more to stop
\n their health declining. \u201cChronic kidney disease is a growth industry, sadly,\u201d says Palmerston North-based renal specialist Curtis Walker. \u201cIts incidence is climbing and climbing, and what lies behind it is largely the epidemic of diabetes and high blood pressure.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

The kidneys play a vital role in our bodies by filtering waste products from our blood and regulating levels of salt, water and other chemicals in our system. Their function can worsen with age but having poor metabolic health speeds up that process, damaging the kidneys and eventually leading to their failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is you don\u2019t start getting symptoms until your kidneys are functioning at around 10%,\u201d says Walker. \u201cBy that stage it\u2019s far too late to do anything about it other than dialysis or a kidney transplant, so that\u2019s why it\u2019s a silent killer.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori and Pasifika face disproportionally high rates. Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp died of kidney disease aged 50 last year while on the waiting list for a transplant. <\/p>\n

Often, the damage begins early in life. A 2022 University of Otago study found people who grow up in deprived socio-economic conditions or are overweight in childhood are more likely to have poorer kidney function in their 30s and 40s and more at risk of developing chronic kidney disease.<\/p>\n

Last year, 5747 New Zealanders were treated for kidney failure. With rates of the disease predicted to continue rising, Walker says we need to be doing more to prioritise prevention and early detection.<\/p>\n

\u201cScreening and monitoring people is key because then we can act to slow the decline in kidney function.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simple blood and urine tests can check for early signs of kidney damage. To keep the organs functioning in the years ahead involves a combination of medication, diet and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some good medications that can help with this over the years,\u201d says Walker. \u201cIf we can slow the progression of kidney disease we know it\u2019s cost-effective for our country. We stop patients getting to the expensive end of the health system, which is dialysis and kidney transplant. And setting aside the cost, the health burden for people who have to be on dialysis is massive. It takes you out of your life and your community, and makes it very difficult to work or travel away from home. And there are also some real concerns about dialysis unit capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker would like to see kidney care made more of a priority in health planning. A recent survey revealed half of all renal services are operating above capacity and many patients are having to travel long distances, particularly in the South Island, where there are only three units. In March, kidney patients in Christchurch were warned dialysis might have to be rationed because of staffing shortage and lack of space in the unit.<\/p>\n

Generally, patients with end-stage kidney disease need to be dialysed three times a week. They spend 4-5 hours at a time hooked up to a machine that filters waste products and excess fluid from the blood. Home dialysis is possible but isn\u2019t suitable for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on your living situation,\u201d says Walker. \u201cIf you are in a small apartment you can\u2019t have a big machine in there. Some patients can\u2019t manage to hook up to the machine alone. So they need to come along to a unit. The alternative, sadly, is that they\u2019ll die.\u201d<\/p>\n

One positive is that an increasing number of kidney transplants are now being performed in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with organs from a mix of deceased and living donors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did almost 200 transplants in 2024,\u201d Walker says. \u201cIt offers a better quality of life for patients and means they don\u2019t have to be on dialysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preventing kidney disease is obviously the ideal. That involves keeping blood sugar and blood pressure in a healthy range, staying well hydrated, not smoking, and looking after cardiovascular health with a good diet and exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re concerned about your kidneys then go to your GP. Your health can be evaluated and if your kidneys aren\u2019t 100% they can be monitored and you can act to slow the decline.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Copy LinkEmailFacebookTwitter\/XLinkedInReddit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicky Pellegrino Health writer\u00b7New Zealand Listener\u00b7 25 May, 2026 06:10 PM4 mins to read \u200c Subscribe to listenAccess…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[63698,1443,3225,60698,95,4250,8344,73222,3535,7191,71,134,2959,2255,14235,33450,7055,5829,130,111,139,69,1118,21411,1435,1436,1321,88450,2935,666,43211,131,1361,61,59571,1533,102,28367,24750],"class_list":["post-444773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-63698","tag-about","tag-according","tag-although","tag-and","tag-blood","tag-common","tag-cope","tag-diabetes","tag-disease","tag-from","tag-health","tag-high","tag-kidney","tag-killer","tag-known","tag-linked","tag-many","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-pressure","tag-rapid","tag-rise","tag-services","tag-silent","tag-society","tag-struggling","tag-suffering","tag-than","tag-that","tag-to","tag-unaware","tag-will","tag-with","tag-worldwide","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}