Are Your Kidneys Ok? Detect Early to Protect Kidney Health
Early identification of kidney disease can protect kidney health, prevent disease progression and related complications, reduce cardiovascular disease risk and decrease mortality. We must ask, “Are your kidneys ok?” using serum creatinine to estimate kidney function and urine albumin to assess for kidney and endothelial damage. Evaluation for causes and risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) includes testing for diabetes and measurement of blood pressure and body mass index. This World Kidney Day, we assert that case-finding in high-risk populations, or even population-level screening, can decrease the burden of kidney disease globally. Early-stage CKD is asymptomatic and simple to test for, and recent paradigm-shifting CKD treatments such as sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors dramatically improve outcomes and favour the cost-benefit analysis for screening or case-finding programs. Despite this, numerous barriers exist, including resource allocation, healthcare funding, healthcare infrastructure, healthcare professionals, and population awareness of kidney disease. Coordinated efforts by major kidney non-governmental organizations to prioritise the kidney health agenda for governments and aligning early detection efforts with other current programs will maximise efficiencies.
Authors
- Latha A. Kumaraswami
- Vassilios Liakopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7564-2724)
- Joseph A. Vassalotti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8835-0192)
- Dina Abdellatif (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5398-3387)
- Agnès Haris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8562-7977)
- Ricardo Correa‐Rotter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0100-8285)
- Siu‐Fai Lui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0800-8982)
- Alessandro Balducci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7432-1494)
- Anna Francis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5106-3712)
- Augusto César Soares dos Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5864-2338)
- Stefanos K. Roumeliotis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9423-649X)
- Li‐Li Hsiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0830-3391)
Institutions
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- National Kidney Foundation (US)
- Mount Sinai Hospital (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Cairo University (EG)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
- AHEPA University Hospital (GR)
- Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán (MX)
- Hong Kong Jockey Club (HK)
- Mount Sinai Hospital (US)
- Péterfy Sándor Utcai Kórház-Rendelőintézet és Baleseti Központ (HU)
- Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Gujarat Kidney Foundation (IN)
- Kidney Health Australia (AU)
- Cairo University hospitals (EG)
- Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the Nephrology Society of Thailand
- Published
- 2025-06-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.63555/jnst.2025.278533
- Primary Topic
- Chronic Kidney Disease and Diabetes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00