For Patients: Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is very common and increasing. One in three patients with diabetes and one in five with high blood pressure have CKD but only one in ten know they have it. That is a very important problem because CKD is so dangerous and treatment is so effective.
In a study of eighty 55-year-old patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease, within 13 years there were 35 heart attacks, 30 strokes, and six patients went on dialysis if the patient was in usual care. Half of the patients were dead. Usual care is the care most patients receive. If the patients were on optimal medical treatment, there were nine heart attacks, six strokes, and only one person went on dialysis—a huge difference.
If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you need to know if you have chronic kidney disease. Make sure that you have a urine test for protein and a blood test for kidney function if you have either of these conditions. Small amounts of protein in the urine or an estimated glomerular filtration test (eGFR blood test) mean that you have dangerous chronic kidney disease. Make sure you have the tests every year.