Researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a simple eight point checklist to predict which patients may be at risk for developing chronic kidney disease (CKD). The model accurately indicates middle-aged and older patients at high risk for newly diagnosed CKD, which involves a gradual loss of kidney function over time.
 
The checklist involves a scoring system to determine the risk of developing kidney disease. Older age (at or over 70) was the most indicative of developing the disease. This new model may serve as a jumping off point for discussions of how patients can control their odds for CKD.

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