There are five stages of kidney damage in chronic kidney disease that range from mild kidney dysfunction to complete failure. The burden of chronic kidney disease is increasing worldwide and is becoming increasingly prevalent in developing countries. Overall, the prevalence is estimated to be between 8% and 16% worldwide. Patients who have stage three or four chronic kidney disease are at a higher risk of progressing to either end-stage renal disease or death.
Chronic kidney disease is associated with other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease; chronic kidney disease is found to incur an 8-to-10-fold increased risk for these conditions. Other complications include increased risk of infection, anemia, mineral and bone disorders, fractures, cognitive decline, and increased risk of infection.
Family History
Family members of chronic kidney disease patients have a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease. According to a longitudinal study between 1995 and 2003 in the United States, nearly 23% of dialysis patients were found to have close relatives with early-stage renal disease. Consequently, it is advised that those with chronic kidney disease should have high-risk family members screened.
History of hypertension
Hypertension is both a cause and effect of chronic kidney disease and is a common comorbidity in those with chronic kidney disease. The control of hypertension is related to a reduced rate of chronic kidney disease progression, as well as a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
History of cancer
Cancer can either cause chronic kidney disease directly or indirectly via the adverse effects of therapies such as chemotherapy; con committedly, chronic kidney disease may be a risk factor for cancer, and there is a strong association between the two conditions due to the commonality of risk factors, often toxins.
Cardiovascular Disease
Patients with chronic kidney disease exhibit an increased cardiovascular disease risk, which typically manifests as heart failure, sudden cardiac death, coronary artery disease, and arrhythmia. Indeed, both the incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular disease are higher in patients with early chronic kidney disease as well as those who have advanced chronic kidney disease. In the advanced subpopulation, cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a well-established risk factor for the development of chronic kidney disease. In the United States, between the years 2013 and 2016, ~ 36% of patients with diabetes went on to develop diabetic kidney disease. As the global burden of diabetes is increasing dramatically due to the development of type 2 diabetes in developing countries, the annual rate of growth of diabetes-related chronic kidney disease is also expected to increase, particularly in low to middle-income countries.
Among them, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity are the major contributors to the global burden of chronic kidney disease. These are important traditional risk factors. However, increasingly, non-traditional chronic kidney disease risk factors such as nephrotoxin exposure, fetal and maternal factors, kidney stones, and acute kidney injury, are becoming recognized as a major threat to the development of chronic kidney disease.
Once chronic kidney disease risk factors have been identified, the development of appropriate mitigation strategies can occur. This is because, for the development of effective prevention policies, an accurate understanding of both the prevalence and incidence of chronic kidney disease in any given population or setting, alongside the distribution and burden of risk factors is necessary. The development of an informed approach to chronic kidney disease prevention that accounts for all known risk factors is a cornerstone for the development of a strategy to successfully tackle the global chronic kidney disease epidemic.
