Mind the gap in kidney care: Translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition because in the early stages, it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the gap in kidney care: translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years for new treatments to move from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. Now is the time to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions are diagnosed worldwide, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because it is often silent in the early stages. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from the patient to the clinician to the health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the gap in kidney care: translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages, it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Supplementation of Antioxidants in Chronic Kidney Disease: Clinical Necessity or Wishful Thinking? A Bench to Bedside Translational Research.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients are at increased risk for atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and progression to end stage kidney disease (ESKD). This heavy CVD risk cannot be solely at-tributed to traditional Framingham risk factors. Oxidative stress (OS), defined as the disruption of balance between prooxidants and antioxidants in favor of the former, has emerged as a novel risk factor for CVD and CKD progression. Specifically, lipid peroxidation has been identified as a trigger for endothelial dys-function, the first step towards atherogenesis and protein oxidation has been associated with CKD progres-sion. The oxidation of proteins and lipids starts early in CKD, increases gradually with disease progression and is further exacerbated in ESKD, due to dialysis related factors. In order to counteract the deleterious effects of free radicals and thereby ameliorate, or delay, CV disease and progression of CKD, exogenous administration of antioxidants has been proposed. Here, we attempt to summarize existing data from ex-perimental and clinical studies that test antioxidants for their possible beneficial effects against CVD and CKD progression such as vitamins E and C, statins, omega-3 fatty acids, trace elements, polyphenols and N-acetylcysteine.

Vitamin K for Vascular Calcification in Kidney Patients: Still Alive and Kicking, but Still a Lot to Learn.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) suffer disproportionately from a high burden of cardiovascular disease, which, despite recent scientific advances, remains partly understood. Vascular calcification (VC) is the result of an ongoing process of misplaced calcium in the inner and medial layers of the arteries, which has emerged as a critical contributor to cardiovascular events in CKD. Beyond its established role in blood clotting and bone health, vitamin K appears crucial in regulating VC via vitamin K-dependent proteins (VKDPs). Among these, the matrix Gla protein (MGP) serves as both a potent inhibitor of VC and a valuable biomarker (in its inactive form) for reflecting circulating vitamin K levels. CKD patients, especially in advanced stages, often present with vitamin K deficiency due to dietary restrictions, medications, and impaired intestinal absorption in the uremic environment. Epidemiological studies confirm a strong association between vitamin K levels, inactive MGP, and increased CVD risk across CKD stages. Based on the promising results of pre-clinical data, an increasing number of clinical trials have investigated the potential benefits of vitamin K supplementation to prevent, delay, or even reverse VC, but the results have remained inconsistent.

Mind the gap in kidney care: translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the Gap in Kidney Care: Translating What We Know into What We Do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the Gap in Kidney Care: Translating What We Know Into What We do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages, it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary-care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the gap in kidney care: Translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

The association of home blood pressure with all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients: A prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Prior observational studies conducted in the hemodialysis population have suggested a reverse association between dialysis-unit blood pressure (BP) and mortality. The present study aimed to investigate the prognostic association of home versus dialysis-unit BP with all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: At baseline, 146 patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis underwent assessment of their BP with the following methods: (i) 2-week averaged routine predialysis and postdialysis BP measurements; (ii) home BP monitoring for 1 week that included duplicate morning and evening BP measurements with the use of validated devices. RESULTS: Over a median follow-up period of 38 months (interquartile range [IQR]: 22-54), 44 patients (31.1%) died. In Kaplan-Meier curves, predialysis and postdialysis systolic BP (SBP) was not associated with all-cause mortality, while home SBP appeared to be of prognostic significance (log rank p = 0.029). After stratifying patients into quartiles, all-cause mortality was lowest when home SBP was ranging from 128.1 to 136.8 mmHg (quartile 2). In univariate Cox regression analysis, using quartile 2 as a referent category, the risk of all-cause mortality was 3.32-fold higher in quartile 1, 1.53-fold higher in quartile 3 and 3.25-fold higher in quartile 4. The risk-association remained unchanged after adjustment for several confounding factors (adjusted hazard ratio: 4.79, 1.79, 3.63 for quartiles 1, 3, and 4 of home systolic BP, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that among hemodialysis patients, 1-week averaged home SBP is independently associated with all-cause mortality. In sharp contrast, SBP recorded either before or after dialysis over 2 weeks is not prognostically informative.

Mind the gap in kidney care: Translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Mind the Gap in Kidney Care: Translating What We Know Into What We Do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay. DOI: 10.52547/ijkd.8216.

ROC curve analysis: a useful statistic multi-tool in the research of nephrology.

In the past decade, scientific research in the area of Nephrology has focused on evaluating the clinical utility and performance of various biomarkers for diagnosis, risk stratification and prognosis. Before implementing a biomarker in everyday clinical practice for screening a specific disease context, specific statistic measures are necessary to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and performance of this biomarker. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve analysis is an important statistical method used to estimate the discriminatory performance of a novel diagnostic test, identify the optimal cut-off value for a test that maximizes sensitivity and specificity, and evaluate the predictive value of a certain biomarker or risk, prediction score. Herein, through practical examples, we aim to present a simple methodological approach to explain in detail the principles and applications of ROC curve analysis in the field of nephrology pertaining diagnosis and prognosis.

Mind the gap in kidney care: translating what we know into what we do.

Historically, it takes an average of 17 years to move new treatments from clinical evidence to daily practice. Given the highly effective treatments now available to prevent or delay kidney disease onset and progression, this is far too long. The time is now to narrow the gap between what we know and what we do. Clear guidelines exist for the prevention and management of common risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, but only a fraction of people with these conditions worldwide are diagnosed, and even fewer are treated to target. Similarly, the vast majority of people living with kidney disease are unaware of their condition, because in the early stages it is often silent. Even among patients who have been diagnosed, many do not receive appropriate treatment for kidney disease. Considering the serious consequences of kidney disease progression, kidney failure, or death, it is imperative that treatments are initiated early and appropriately. Opportunities to diagnose and treat kidney disease early must be maximized beginning at the primary care level. Many systematic barriers exist, ranging from patient to clinician to health systems to societal factors. To preserve and improve kidney health for everyone everywhere, each of these barriers must be acknowledged so that sustainable solutions are developed and implemented without further delay.

Diuretics or ultrafiltration in the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Hospitalization for decompensated heart failure is a major public health issue. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis to summarize and analyze if there is a benefit in using ultrafiltration over diuretics in terms of reducing mortality or hospital readmissions, primarily and identified 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including 941 patients. RESULTS: Compared to diuretics, treatment with ultrafiltration was associated with a significant reduction in heart failure hospitalizations (risk ratio [RR]: 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.55-0.96, p = 0.02) and significant increase in weight and net fluid loss (mean difference [MD]: -1.55, CI: -2.36 to -0.74, p = 0.0002) and (MD: -2.10, CI: -3.32 to -0.89, p = 0.0007), respectively. There was no significant difference among treatments regarding the duration of hospitalization, the increase in serum creatinine levels, and mortality. CONCLUSION: Among patients with decompensated heart failure, compared to diuretics, ultrafiltration is associated with reduced rehospitalizations and increased weight/net fluid loss.