Article
Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Diabetic Kidney Disease

https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ackd.2014.03.009Get rights and content

Prevalence rates of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) are increasing in parallel with the incidence rates of diabetes mellitus. DKD has already become a significant health problem worldwide. Without radical improvements in prevention and treatment, DKD prevalence will continue to climb. The pathogenesis of DKD is complex and multifactorial, with genetic and environmental factors involved. Several nonmodifiable risk factors contribute to DKD, including genetics, sex, age, age at onset, and duration of diabetes. However, there are also several modifiable risk factors that have a strong effect on the risk of DKD. Traditional modifiable factors include glycemic control, blood pressure, lipids, and smoking. Other recently discovered modifiable risk factors include chronic low-grade inflammation, advanced glycation end products, and lack of physical activity. Efficient management of these modifiable risk factors may improve the prognosis of diabetic patients at risk of DKD.

Key Words

Diabetic kidney disease
CKD
ESRD
Risk factors
Epidemiology

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Support: This research was supported by grants from the Folkhälsan Research Foundation, the Academy of Finland (134379), the Wilhelm and Else Stockmann Foundation, the Liv och Hälsa Foundation, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The sponsor had no role in the design and conduct of this review. P.-H.G. has received lecture honorariums from Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Genzyme, Medscape, MSD, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk. P.-H.G. is an advisory board member of Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novartis, AbbVie, Abbott, and Cebix. P.-H.G. has received investigator-initiated study grants from Eli Lilly and Roche. No other potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article are reported.

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