The Basics of Kidney Disease
Kidneys are vital organs. They filter fluid and waste to make urine. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the gradual loss of kidney function over time, and it includes conditions that damage your kidneys and decrease their ability to keep you healthy.
As kidney disease progresses, waste can build to high levels in your blood and make you feel sick. You may develop complications like high blood pressure, anemia (low blood count), weak bones, poor nutritional health and nerve damage. Kidney disease increases your risk of having heart and blood vessel disease. When kidney disease progresses, it may eventually lead to kidney failure, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant to maintain life.
Chronic Kidney Disease is estimated to have a global prevalence of 13.4%*
* Lv JC, Zhang LX. Prevalence and Disease Burden of Chronic Kidney Disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1165:3-15. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-8871-2_1. PMID: 31399958.
CKD Progression
The final stage of CKD, Stage 5, is also known as End Stage Kidney Disease, or ESKD. At this stage of CKD, a kidney transplant or dialysis is necessary to sustain life.
Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease | GFR* | % of Kidney Function | |
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Stage 1 | Kidney damage with normal kidney function | 90 or higher | 90-100% |
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Stage 2 | Kidney damage with mild loss of kidney function | 89 to 60 | 89-60% |
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Stage 3a | Mild to moderate loss of kidney function | 59-45 | 59-45% |
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Stage 3b | Moderate to severe loss of kidney function | 44 to 30 | 44-30% |
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Stage 4 | Severe loss of kidney function | 29-15 | 29-15% |
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Stage 5 | Kidney failure | Less than 15 | Less than 15% |
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* Your GFR number tells you how much kidney function you have. As kidney disease gets worse, the GFR number goes down. GFR stands for "glomerular filtration rate."
Kidney Transplant
For many ESKD patients, the goal is to get a kidney transplant. However, if you need a new kidney and one is not available right away, you will have to start dialysis. Learn more about dialysis by visiting this page.
When you receive a kidney transplant, your failed kidney is replaced with new one. Kidneys can be donated by deceased donors through organ donation programs. In addition, since people only need one kidney to be completely healthy, a kidney can also be donated by a living person.
Kidneys are sometimes donated by close friends or relatives, but can also be donated by complete strangers as part of kidney chains, where somebody who wants to donate a kidney to a close friend or relative but doesn't share the same blood type instead donates their kidney to a complete stranger. Kidney chains effectively and efficiently benefit dozens of individuals who need kidneys.