New research on dialysis vastly contradicts what was widely believed for decades.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have concluded that blacks on kidney dialysis, specifically those under the age of 50, do not do better under the treatment than their white counterparts, Agence France-Presse has reported.

In fact, young blacks are more likely to die from it.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"As a medical community, we have been advising young black patients of treatment options for kidney failure based on the notion that they do better on dialysis than their white counterparts," transplant surgeon and lead researcher Dorry Segev said in a press release.

Dialysis removes waste and excess water from the blood, thereby playing a crucial role in the bodies of people who have experienced renal failure.

"This new study shows that, actually, young blacks have a substantially higher risk of dying on dialysis, and we should instead be counseling them based on this surprising new evidence," he said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4.9 million, or 18.7 percent, of non-Hispanic blacks aged 20 years or older have diabetes.

Medicine