Kidney Disease
What is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
Chronic kidney disease includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy by doing the jobs listed. If kidney disease gets worse, wastes can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Also, kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. These problems may happen slowly over a long period of time. Chronic kidney disease may be caused by diabetes, high blood pressure and other disorders. Early detection and treatment can often keep chronic kidney disease from getting worse. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life. 
Test your Kidney IQ
After the quiz, you can order a FREE copy of the 20–page brochure "Are You at Increased Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease?" We'll send it to you via e-mail or regular mail in English or Spanish. You'll also be eligible to win a copy of the new book Glamour Interrupted, How I Became the Best-Dressed Patient in Hollywood by fashion expert, TV personality and kidney transplant recipient Steven Cojocaru.
Three Simple Tests You Should Ask Your Doctor to Do
More than 26 million Americans—one in nine adults—have kidney disease. Millions more are at increased risk for getting it, and most don’t know it. Kidney disease can be found and treated early to prevent more serious kidney disease and other complications.
The Facts About Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
- 26 million Americans have CKD and millions of others are at increased risk.
- Early detection can help prevent the progression of kidney disease to kidney failure.
- Heart disease is the major cause of death for all people with CKD.
- Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best estimate of kidney function.
- Hypertension causes CKD and CKD causes hypertension.
- Persistent proteinuria (protein in the urine) means CKD is present..
- High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension and family history of kidney disease.
- African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Seniors are at increased risk.
- Three simple tests can detect CKD: blood pressure, urine albumin and serum creatinine.
One in Nine Americans Has Chronic Kidney Disease
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Hope & Main SM
Tells the compelling story of a group of patients and their health care team in a dialysis center just like hundreds of centers across the U.S. Hope & Main follows these individuals through the ups and downs of crises, conflicts, discoveries, and, most importantly, triumphs.
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