A sobering new study released earlier this month by the National Kidney Foundation estimates that more than half of all Americans will develop some kind of type of kidney disease in their lifetime, with African-Americans over the age of 60 at a much greater risk than other groups.

The New York-based organization released the report earlier this month and highlighted the fact that six out of every 10 Americans will suffer some form of chronic kidney ailments in their lifetime. But perhaps one of the most chilling aspects to come out of the report is that end-stage kidney disease, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant, has a lifetime risk of 3.6 percent in most Americans, but more than doubles to about 8 percent in African-Americans.

“With more than half of all Americans at risk, it’s time for all Americans to understand how kidney disease is detected and for those at greater risk to know if they have kidney disease or not,” said Josef Coresh, a physician and a professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. Coresh was the lead researcher of the study. He added that the grim statistics can be attributed to a number of factors, including a rise in obesity rates, diabetes and a general disregard for healthy lifestyles in the past 20 to 30 years. “Chronic kidney disease is often under-diagnosed,” he said.

Additionally, the cost of treating patients with kidney disease tops $41 billion annually for Medicare, the national insurance program for seniors.

Gerald T., a 56-year-old African-American man in Long Island, has been receiving grueling dialysis treatment three times a week for nearly four years. Gerald is also on a kidney transplant waiting list. He lauds the Kidney Foundation for providing useful information and offering resources for the thousands of people living with kidney disease. “People need to know what they can do and where they can go to protect themselves from having to endure dialysis treatments in order to live for the rest of their life,” he said.

To view the complete study and participate in an interactive online kidney disease screening test, visit www.kidney.org.