Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is now a major health problem around the globe. More people are losing kidney function than ever before.
A recent study compared data from 1990 to 2023. It found that the number of people with CKD grew from 378 million to 788 million. That means almost one in seven adults has the disease.
The research was carried out by teams at NYU Langone Health, the University of Glasgow, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. They looked at thousands of papers and health records from over 130 countries.
In the early stages, CKD often has no signs. When the disease gets worse, patients may need dialysis, a kidney‑replacement therapy, or a transplant.
About 1.5 million people died from CKD in 2023. After adjusting for age, death rates were more than 6 % higher than they were in 1993.
The World Health Organization added CKD to its plan for cutting early deaths from non‑communicable diseases by one‑third before 2030.
CKD also raises the risk of heart problems. Roughly 12 % of all deaths from cardiovascular disease are linked to poor kidney function.
The biggest things that make CKD more likely are high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and excess weight.
Most patients in the study were still in the early phases of the disease. Catching CKD early can slow its progress and keep people away from expensive treatments later.
Medications and lifestyle changes, such as healthier eating and more activity, can protect the kidneys when they are started early enough.
Access to these treatments is not even everywhere. In many low‑income regions, fewer people receive dialysis or transplants because the services are scarce or too costly.
New drugs approved in the past five years have shown they can slow kidney damage and lower the chance of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure. It will take time for these medicines to reach all patients.
Because many people never get tested, the real number of CKD cases could be higher than the study suggests.
Experts warn that deaths from CKD may keep climbing in the coming decades, even as deaths from stroke and heart disease fall.
Guidelines for kidney care are being updated to include the newest protective medicines, such as SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP‑1 based therapies, and non‑steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Gates Foundation, and the National Kidney Foundation.