Chronic Kidney Disease

Individuals who have diabetes and high blood pressure are at a higher risk of having chronic kidney disease (CKD). If someone has CKD, their kidneys are not able to filter out toxins and waste from their blood. High blood sugar can slowly damage the kidneys and high blood pressure puts more pressure on the heart, making it harder for the blood to get to the kidneys.

Risk factors for high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease are similar. Some things that you can do to reduce your risk for CKD are:

1. Be physically active
2. Choose healthy foods and drinks to fuel your body
3. Quit smoking https://waytoquit.org/
4. Find out what your risk for diabetes is by taking this one minute prediabetes risk test. If your score is high, talk to your doctor about participating in the National Diabetes Prevention Program https://www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/risktest/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fdiabetes%2Frisktest%2Findex.html
5. Check your blood pressure on a regular basis and talk to your doctor if your blood pressure is in an elevated range (Link to our heart health page)
6. Get an annual check-up and talk to your doctor about screening for CKD. To learn how to understand your test results go here.