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Sep 15, 2007 11:00 pm US/Eastern
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Walk To Find A Cure For Polycystic Kidney Disease
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Experts say that PKD affects millions of people and
CBS4 sponsored a walk to raise money Saturday morning at Morningside Park in the City of Miami. There were hundreds of people who walked, and raised over $60,000.
It's more common than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, but few people are surprisingly familiar with Polycystic Kidney Disease or PKD.
For Robert Roache, signs were subtle. His high blood pressure didn't respond to medicine, and he had fatigue.
"I just thought I was tired from working hard," said Roache.
However when he saw blood in his urine he worried and a sonogram revealed he had PKD.
Dr. Jorge Diego from Jackson Memorial Hospital said PKD strikes about 1 in every 500 people.
"It's a very common illness and I can pretty much guarantee you that in your course of daily affairs at work, at school, at church, in a supermarket, you will be meeting somebody with this condition on virtually a daily basis," said Diego.
The condition commonly causes kidney failure as cysts accumulate impairing the organs ability to filter waste and the kidneys often grow large.
"It is a genetic disease that's inherited from parents to offspring with a 50/50% acquisition," said Diego.
Robert remembers what PKD can do since his mom died from the disease.
"I lost my mom to this disease 30 years ago, but back then it was not diagnosed and I lost my brother ten years ago," Roache told
CBS4's Dr. Sean Kenniff. If you want to be part of "Walk for PKD" come to the Morningside Park in Miami, Saturday.
With a few treatments and no cure, Robert and his wife Cheryl hope the Miami Walk is part of a larger path.
"To know that one day there will one day be a cure. I may not live to see it, but my children or their children may live to see it," said Cheryl.
Click Here for general information about PKD.
Click Here to visit the PKD Foundation Website.
Click Here for more information about Walk for PKD.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)