The Leicester IgAN Research Group
Powering world-leading kidney research
Over the past decade some progress has been made in treating kidney disease, but not nearly enough. The financial, emotional and social burden for patients and their families is significant and the cost for health care systems is huge. Chances are you will probably know someone in your business and friendship circle with kidney disease. Treatments can be gruelling and currently there is no cure.
Today, kidney research at Leicester is more crucial than ever and Leicester has fully embraced a ‘bench to bedside’ approach for world-leading kidney disease research.
Worldwide, one in ten people have chronic kidney disease. Treatments are gruelling and many people will end up on dialysis or need a transplant. As the disease burden continues to rise, successive generations are sadly suffering the same life-limiting problems.
IgA Nephropathy (IgAN) is a chronic kidney disease which is often diagnosed at a young age, usually in their twenties or thirties. Patients live with this chronic condition, and unimaginable fear and anxiety, for the rest of their lives.
There is no known cure for IgAN. At the University of Leicester, our goal is to change that.
Facts about kidney disease in the UK
- Around 3 million people in the UK have chronic kidney disease
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities are five times more likely to develop chronic kidney disease than other groups
- Approximately 3,000 kidney transplants take place every year in the UK, but around 5,000 people are still waiting
- 64,000 people are reliant on dialysis or a transplant to stay alive
- There are around 1,000 children with chronic kidney disease in the UK
- The estimated annual cost of chronic kidney disease to the NHS in England is £1.45 billion
