Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a very common medical problem and appears to affect 26 million Americans or 13 per cent of the U.S. population. The most common causes of renal failure are diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure.
CKD substantially increases the risk of heart attack and stroke which itself are the most common cause of death worldwide. CKD, Anemia and Protein in urine are risk factors for heart attacks and must be taken seriously. According to a report released by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Hospitalisations for CKD is the ninth-most-common cause of death in the U.S., has quadrupled in a quarter century.” Notably, the “number of such hospital cases rose from 416,000 in 1980 to 1.6 million in 2005, the latest year studied. Approximately “85,000 people die of kidney disease annually,” according to this report. The study broke the statistics down by age and gender, showing that “people aged 65 or older accounted for 61 per cent of hospitalisations with the condition, up from 50 per cent in 1980.”
Meanwhile, “hospitalisation rates for kidney disease, including chronic and acute kidney failure, were consistently higher (30 per cent to 40 per cent) among men than women, increasing from 25 to 66.5 per 100,000 in men and from 17.8 to 45.8 per 100,000 in women,” HealthDay (3/27/08) added in its Health Highlights section. But despite these statistics, the report’s “authors said more research is needed to learn why hospitalisation rates for kidney disease are increasing and to better understand the link between kidney disease and chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.” They also emphasised the need for an “increased focus on early detection of kidney disease through screening, and encouraged healthcare professionals to standardise criteria for diagnosing kidney disease.”
According to WebMD (3/27/08), the CDC has two theories regarding these statistics. First, the aging population has led to an increase in the frequency of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, which makes kidney disease more likely, becomes more common with age. Second, there have been changes in the way acute renal failure is diagnosed, defined, or treated. Evidence strongly indicates that large proportions of individuals with CKD are not diagnosed. When they are diagnosed with CKD, they frequently are not managed with proven, state of the art treatments.
It is a well-known fact that delayed referrals are commonly associated with poor outcome, more hospitalisation and higher cost. While early referrals allow better monitoring and treatment of consequences of the CKD as well as slowing the progression of the CKD to end stage renal disease where patients require dialysis. It is also helpful in timely placement of vascular access and more informed dialysis options.
In summary, CKD has recently been identified worldwide as a common and very serious medical illness and public health threat. Moreover, a critical gap had emerged between the availability of effective therapies for this condition and the healthcare that most people with this malady were actually receiving.