It was later revealed that Superintendent Johnson was on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. A potential life-threatening health event affecting a high-profile person under the glare of television cameras at a news conference has put the spotlight on kidney failure among black men.
Johnson is African-American and African-American men have increased rates of kidney failure because of undiagnosed or uncontrolled high-blood pressure, the leading cause of kidney failure among Black men, reports the National Kidney Foundation.
The headline of an article posted on the Kidney Foundation’s website reported that “Black Men Most at Risk of Kidney, Cardiovascular Disease.”
“Among people diagnosed with kidney disease and high blood pressure, African-American men are least likely to have their blood pressure under control, putting them at risk of life-threatening complications,” according to an article published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the official publication of the National Kidney Foundation, which has its headquarters in New York City.
The study included more than 10,000 people diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and high blood pressure, which can worsen CKD.