The Critical Renal Challenge: Finding Godot, Not Waiting for Him: Screening, Early Detection and Treatment of Precursors of Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

U.S. demographic, social and medical trends are converging and threaten to reach a crescendo in the incidence and prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly affecting those in the later years of life. Government and medical resources are ill prepared to deal with the implications of this phenomenon and demographic population changes. It is imperative that existing programs be expanded and new approaches be developed to intervene earlier in the disease processes that precede CKD. Early childhood education, early screening and treatment of chronic conditions and more effective interventions in minority communities are critically needed. Waiting for kidneys to fail is not an option; there is no choice but to intervene sooner and better than ever before.