Via practica 10/2005

CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE: EPIDEMIOLOGY, CLASSIFICATION AND SCREENING

One can class some of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) among civilization diseases. There is sufficient amount of evidence now that 1/ the adverse outcomes of CKD (cardiovascular disease, premature death, and kidney failure) can be prevented or at least delayed; 2/ treatment of earlier stages of CKD is effective in slowing progression to kidney failure and in preventing the systemic complications that develop in the course of progressive loss of kidney function; 3/ initiation of treatment of cardiovascular risk factors (anemia, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, and altered phosphorus and calcium metabolism) at early stages of CKD can be effective in reducing this leading cause of mortality and morbidity of individuals with CKD.

Keywords: chronic kidney diseases, epidemiology, prognosis, classification, screening.