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CKD, which cannot be reversed, is often found in patients with hypertension, diabetes and heart failure. Therapeutic treatments are necessary to treat complications and to help slow further kidney damage.
For more than two hundred years, scientists have worked to understand how kidneys function and how to treat kidney-related problems. Early strides in understanding organ function led to a rapid period of growth and innovation in kidney care during the 1940s and 50s, and since then, the broader kidney disease space has continued to evolve significantly. CSL Vifor is proud to have become a part of the science that is moving disease study and treatment forward.
Check out a recap of the history, present and future of kidney care and see how we’re poised to help patients with CKD and its complications.
Patients living with CKD often experience itching that doesn’t feel like typical itching. That’s because it could be caused by a condition called chronic kidney disease-associated pruritus (CKD-aP).
CKD-aP is a serious and common condition that is under-recognized and under-reported.8 CKD-aP impacts up to 65% of people with CKD undergoing hemodialysis in the U.S.7 Up to 33% of those with CKD undergoing dialysis in the U.S. say they are moderately to extremely bothered by itching.8
Recurrent hyperkalemia frequently occurs in patients with CKD suffering from hypertension or diabetes, with or without heart failure1 and can be triggered by treatment with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi), the cornerstone therapy for a number of conditions in cardio-renal patients2.
People at highest risk for hyperkalemia include those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and/or heart failure. People with CKD also frequently have other disorders such as diabetes and high blood pressure, putting them at increased risk.3 The number of people with these conditions is expected to climb as the population ages.
As their kidney function deteriorates, people with CKD may experience a recurrence of hyperkalemia. There are often no warning signs, meaning a person at risk can unknowingly experience increases in potassium recurrently.1 Managing this cycle has long been a challenge for physicians.
Dietary restriction of potassium is an important component of managing hyperkalemia. However, this is difficult because potassium is found in many healthy foods. While treatments are available to acutely lower elevated potassium levels in the blood to reduce the risk of a life-threatening event, options to manage the chronic risk of hyperkalemia on a daily basis have been limited.
Cardiovascular calcification of the coronary arteries, heart valves or aorta has been identified as a major contributor to increased mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing dialysis. Progression of cardiovascular calcification, which predicts increased risk of future cardiovascular events and mortality is more aggressive in patients undergoing dialysis than in non-dialysis patients.
In patients undergoing dialysis, vascular calcification occurs when calcium and phosphate aggregate into hydroxyapatite crystals and deposit into the media layer of blood vessels, leading to medial calcification.