A panel of experts commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designed a comprehensive public health strategy to prevent the development and complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States. The report, which was published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease, found end stage renal disease (ESRD) can be held at bay by preventing kidney disease to begin with, detecting it in its early stages and providing treatment.
 
The strategic plan targets individuals who may not have kidney disease, but are at risk for developing the disease because of age, family history of the condition, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. 

The authors of the plan created measures to reduce kidney disease as a public health threat, such as:

• Raising awareness of the danger among those at risk.
• Routine testing to detect kidney disease in its earliest stages with a urine test to detect albumin and a blood test for creatinine to estimate the glomerular filtration rate.
• Reducing risk by improving blood pressure control among those with hypertension.
• Reducing risk by improving blood sugar control among those with diabetes.

This article originally appeared in the April 2009 issue of Kidney Beginnings: The Electronic Newsletter.