Kidney disease can be caused by a wide and divergent array of factors, but perhaps the most tragic are the factors which can not be prevented through diet and lifestyle changes, for they are caused by genetic components which are passed down through generations.

These genetic components can manifest in entire groups of people from distinct racial and ethnic backgrounds suffering from specific diseases, and one such gene has long been linked with a prevalence for kidney disease amongst the African-American community, but that exclusivity may have changed according to some new findings.

A recent study revealed that a kidney disease gene variant that was believed to only affect African-American people also affects Latinx people and Hispanics. This gene is called APOL1.

APOL1 was first known in the African-American community but not too much was known about this gene and its presence in people with Caribbean and Latin American backgrounds and after a lot of
research, a connection was found between APOL1 and Hispanic and Latino people who are connected to Africa.

With this knowledge, doctors can now better care for their patients with kidney problems.

According to the National Kidney Association, about 10 percent of the world’s population suffers from kidney disease.

Doctors can now design special treatments according to each patient’s special needs with this more specific knowledge in mind.

For more of the latest chronic kidney disease studies, be sure to visit our backlog of articles to catch up on the most ground-breaking, trending topics related to kidney health.