It Takes 2: Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness
It Takes 2 people – a patient and a healthcare professional, and 2 tests – a blood and a urine test – to help detect kidney disease.
Understanding the risks and symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is important. By knowing the risks, it empowers you or your loved ones to get checked more regularly. So, if CKD has developed, a diagnosis can be made earlier, and in turn, treated earlier.
Risk factors and testing for CKD
Certain people are more at-risk than others of developing CKD. This includes those living with metabolic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are responsible for 2 in 3 cases of kidney disease. Age and family history are also risk-factors of CKD.
Knowledge is power. Knowing and sharing the CKD risk factors can empower people to advocate for testing with their healthcare professional (HCP). It Takes 2 people – a patient and an HCP – to help detect kidney disease.
If you or someone you know are at-risk, speak to your HCP today about testing for kidney disease.
Diagnosis of CKD
It Takes 2 tests – an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) blood and a urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) test– to get the full picture of CKD.
Despite healthcare guidelines recommending CKD to be screened with both tests, all too often, this is not the case. Early, regular and complete testing for kidney disease is the best way to determine kidney health and help reduce long-term complications.
Speak up to ensure 2 tests are used to test for and diagnose CKD:
- eGFR, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, is a blood test that measures how well kidneys filter the blood. It also helps determine the stage of kidney disease.
- UACR, or urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, is a urine test that measures the ratio of a protein in the blood to waste in the urine. This helps to predict the outcome of kidney disease.
Together, these 2 tests can help to identify the stage of CKD as well as the risk of disease progression, cardiovascular events and kidney failure.
It Takes 2 tests – an eGFR blood and a UACR urine test– to get the full picture about CKD.