Mangold lived with kidney disease: what is it?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The death of a former member of the Ohio State University football team and the New York Jets is sending shock waves around the nation.

Nick Mangold, a two-time all-pro center, died at the age of 41 from complications of kidney disease. His death is a reminder of the seriousness of a disease affecting more than 35 million Americans.

Mangold, with his height, skill and, of course, long blonde hair, made him recognizable as he sported scarlet and gray while a member of the national championship football team.

The Centerville native was a first-round draft pick in 2006 by the New York Jets, the same year he was diagnosed with a genetic defect that led to his chronic kidney disease. 

“You know, people understand heart disease, cancer, words like that, but when they hear about kidney disease, it takes them a while to really get to understand what does it mean to me,” Ohio State Wexner Medical Center transplant doctor Dr. Uday Nori.

Nori, a transplant nephrologist specializing in kidney and pancreas transplantation, said he knows the seriousness of the disease and to hear the news of Mangold was heartbreaking.

“Yeah, you know, I was saddened to hear the news of his passing, and the first thought that entered my mind was, immediate thought was, ‘He was so young,’" Nori said.

Nori said that while he couldn’t speak to Mangold’s specific case, the disease Mangold had occurs when the kidneys stop filtering waste from the blood, which can impact the body’s other organs, anything from a person’s bone health to their heart.

Nori said that while the disease is complex and can have long-term health implications for those in the later stages, actually diagnosing the disease is easy.

“The thing that I would like your listeners and viewers to know is diagnosing kidney disease is very simple,” he said. “It takes a blood test, a urine test, when they go to their primary care doctors. And people who have risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes should be especially alert to the idea that they may already have an underlying kidney disease.

“This is just such a tragedy that a young man, also a well-known person who is in the public view all the time, had to have such a sad outcome,” Nori added.

Mangold, who just two weeks ago asked the public to consider donating a kidney, leaves behind a wife and four young children.