Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson received an outpouring of support after he disclosed last week that he is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant because of glomerulonephritis. Dozens of strangers and Chicago Police Department employees offered to be donors, in hopes that they would be a match for Johnson.

While the response does not necessarily mean Johnson will receive a kidney — finding a match is incredibly challenging — transplant advocates said the attention paid to his condition could help others even if it doesn't immediately help Johnson.

"Many, many more patients are in the same situation as the superintendent," said Dr. Paul Crawford, Johnson's nephrologist, or kidney specialist. "They're waiting for organs and for the public to step up to the plate and be a donor. You have to go through a screening test, but a lot of people are responding and calling and willing to donate, so that's been a very positive outcome of the announcement of the status of his kidney."

Glomerulonephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys. When it occurs, the kidneys stop properly filtering blood and eliminating waste through urine. They begin to scar and shut down, eventually failing and resulting in potentially life-threatening complications.

One out of every nine people have chronic kidney disease, and most of them do not even know they have it. African-Americans are affected by kidney disease 75 percent more than Caucasians and need to be extra diligent, Crawford said.

Officers, strangers offer to donate kidney to Chicago's top cop, who needs transplant Marwa Eltagouri

Police superintendent Eddie Johnson’s godmother always told him, “God works in mysterious ways.” The number of people who’ve volunteered to donate a kidney to Johnson in the 24 hours after announcing his need for a transplant has him thinking his godmother was right.

Johnson, 56, disclosed Friday...

Police superintendent Eddie Johnson’s godmother always told him, “God works in mysterious ways.” The number of people who’ve volunteered to donate a kidney to Johnson in the 24 hours after announcing his need for a transplant has him thinking his godmother was right.

Johnson, 56, disclosed Friday...

(Marwa Eltagouri)

"Most people don't know they have it because they don't feel it, and they don't have a symptom attached to it," Crawford said. "It's a silent progressing disease. You could feel fine and have stage five kidney disease."

For the more than 100,000 people nationally who already have advanced kidney failure, getting a new kidney could take more than five years, Crawford said. More than 4,700 people die each year while waiting for a kidney, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

Most people on the waiting list receive a kidney from a deceased person who had signed up as an organ donor or from a friend or family member.

Roughly 90 percent will receive a kidney from someone who has died. The other 10 percent have a friend or family member who volunteers to be a living donor. But volunteering does not necessarily mean the donor will be able to give because finding a match is incredibly challenging, said Dr. Jochen Reiser, a nephrologist and chairman of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center, which performs about 100 kidney transplants a year.

"You need to be in perfect shape," Reiser said. "There are a lot of potential donors and a lot of people would like to donate, but they're very quickly excluded because it's such a harshly scrutinized screening process."

Potential donors are extensively tested to make sure they are healthy and their kidney is compatible with the recipient. The screening process could last as little as a few days to more than a year — as long as it takes for the donor to meet the requirements because some may need to make long-term changes like losing weight.

Once a person qualifies as a donor, there is a 30-day cooling-off period before the transplant can occur to prevent donations being made based on emotions that may change. The actual transplant and recovery are relatively straightforward, Reiser said. Donors typically go home shortly after the surgery with relatively few adverse effects.

In Chicago, Gift of Hope is one of the organizations that works with area hospitals to provide organs.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson discusses health after nearly fainting Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson discusses his health after nearly fainting at a news conference earlier in the day on Jan. 27, 2017. (WGN-TV) Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson discusses his health after nearly fainting at a news conference earlier in the day on Jan. 27, 2017. (WGN-TV) See more videos

"This effort is going to shine a light on the need for kidney donation, and it's going to save a lot of people outside of (Johnson)," said Jack Lynch, director of community affairs for Gift of Hope. "It is our prayer and belief that it's going to work out just fine for him because the general public sees the positives in saving someone like him and giving him back normalcy in his life."

Johnson was diagnosed more than three decades ago when he underwent testing as part of applying to become a Chicago police officer. The disease can be acute or chronic, and Johnson has the chronic form of the disease, which can be managed without dialysis as long as the patient is diligent about taking medication and living a healthy lifestyle, Crawford said.

"Controlling the blood pressure is a critical part," he said. "Even if the kidney disease is controlled by (other medication), if high blood pressure is not controlled, it can worsen and progress rapidly."

Medication is usually prescribed to help stabilize high blood pressure, and people can "do very well" if that is maintained, Crawford said.

"No matter how much blood pressure medicine you're using, if you take a salt shaker to your food, it's not going to work," he said.

But the biggest problem with kidney disease is that many people don't realize they have it until their kidneys are already seriously deteriorating and in need of dialysis or a transplant, Reiser said.

"Think of it like driving a car," Reiser said. "Whether you have a full gas tank or a low gas tank, you drive fine. But at some point you start to notice it when the gas runs out. This is a disease that can go unnoticed for a long time because of that."

Crawford hopes Johnson's condition will raise awareness about consulting with doctors and leading healthy lifestyles. People should ask their doctor to test their urine and blood to see whether there are any abnormalities in order to catch kidney disease earlier.

Chicago's top cop on waiting list for kidney transplant Jeremy Gorner and Bill Ruthhart

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, under intense pressure as Chicago faces national criticism over its seemingly runaway violence, disclosed Friday he is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant after nearly fainting at a morning news conference.

Johnson, 56, appeared refreshed at an evening...

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, under intense pressure as Chicago faces national criticism over its seemingly runaway violence, disclosed Friday he is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant after nearly fainting at a morning news conference.

Johnson, 56, appeared refreshed at an evening...

(Jeremy Gorner and Bill Ruthhart)

"We have quite a lot of work to do in educating the general public about healthy lifestyles and asking their doctor if they have protein in their urine," Crawford said.

Finding protein in the urine is one of the first abnormalities that is typically seen in patients with kidney failure. But oftentimes patients don't know to ask their doctors to check, and urine tests can still come out normal.

Reiser and his team at Rush found that a particular protein found in a blood test can reliably predict a person's chances of developing chronic kidney disease up to five years before kidney damage. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015.

As Johnson's case brings more attention to kidney donation, Crawford hopes that more people will sign up to be donors.

"I always tell people that the Lord gave you two kidneys," Crawford said. "One to give away and one to keep you healthy."

gwong@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GraceWong630

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.