Today is National PKD Awareness Day

Speak to Canadians fighting a life-threatening kidney disease

TORONTO, Sept. 4, 2014 /CNW/ - While 46-year-old Cheri Barton looks like she is nine months pregnant, she isn't. 

Cheri has autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a life-threatening, genetic disease that causes multiple cysts to form on the kidneys, resulting in massive enlargement of the kidneys (up to three to four times their normal size) and can impact the function of surrounding organs, like the liver.¹ ADPKD can also lead to deterioration of kidney function and in some cases, kidney failure.²

Weighing approximately 35 pounds combined, Cheri's enlarged kidneys and liver constantly push up against her abdomen and other organs, resulting in hernias, frequent pain and discomfort. Her kidneys are functioning well below average, and without treatment to help slow the progression of the disease, Cheri will likely end up on dialysis or in need of a transplant. Cheri is among the 35,000 to 66,000 Canadians who have ADPKD.³

"PKD Awareness Day, for me, is an opportunity to raise awareness about a condition few people know about," says Cheri. "This is a condition that not only affects the individual, but their family as well."

Cheri is available for interview and can speak to how ADPKD has impacted her life and what she is doing to help manage the condition.

Jeff Robertson, Executive Director, PKD Foundation of Canada is also available for interview and can speak to how ADPKD has impacted his own family and what his organization is doing to help make a difference.

For more information about ADPKD and to find out more about what the PKD Foundation of Canada has coming up, visit endpkd.ca.     

References

¹ Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity website. Fast facts about ADPKD. Available at: http://pkdcharity.org.uk/about-adpkd/just-diagnosed/fast-facts-about-adpkd Accessed August 2014.

² National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Polycystic Kidney Disease. Available at: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/#dominant Accessed August 2014.

³ The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Polycystic Kidney Disease.  Page 4.  Available at: http://www.kidney.ca/document.doc?id=324. Accessed: July 15, 2014.

SOURCE: PKD Foundation of Canada

or to arrange interviews, please contact: Erin Collett, Edelman, 416.849.8911, [email protected]