The global burden of chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a non-communicable disease usually caused by diabetes and hypertension.1 Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of the early morbidity and mortality sustained by patients with CKD. The severity of CKD can be quantified by a low serum creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which indicates excretory kidney function, and raised urinary albumin measured by the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), which is a marker of kidney damage.2 The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes classification system for staging CKD is based on eGFR and ACR and is widely used in clinical practice.