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Living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not easy, and patients must adopt lifestyle changes that can be difficult. Owing to the complexities of the disease, patients must be supported to improve their understanding of CKD and to enable them to make informed decisions about the management of their disease.
Increased awareness of chronic kidney disease among the general public is required to facilitate action to improve kidney health. An integrated approach involving mass media campaigns, primary health-care interventions and advocacy is needed to draw attention to chronic kidney disease and shift the focus from kidney failure to achieve a public health perspective on this disease.
Chronic kidney disease is a major public health problem that is associated with excessive morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. However, limited clinician awareness of chronic kidney disease is universally identified as a key barrier to care. A concerted effort is urgently needed to address the knowledge gaps of primary care providers.
Growing patient empowerment and the deluge of health information and misinformation have highlighted the importance of health literacy. Unfortunately, public information and literacy programmes often fail to counter the effect of misinformation. Successfully countering misinformation presents distinctive challenges beyond patient education, and may require trust built on collaborative patient–clinician relationships.
Loss of muscle protein is a deleterious consequence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) that results in decreased muscle strength and function. This Review summarizes the cellular mechanisms that lead to reductions in muscle protein in patients with CKD and highlights commonalities with other catabolic conditions such as cancer and diabetes.
RNA-binding proteins are involved in every stage of the RNA life cycle and have a major impact on cellular biology. Here, the authors discuss current knowledge of RNA-binding proteins, their interactions with RNAs and proteins, their roles in kidney diseases and their potential as novel therapeutic targets.
This Review examines the concept of kidney lifespan and how increases in haemodynamic and metabolic demands in the kidney can lead to nephron overload, which is a common feature of progressive kidney disease and therefore represents a therapeutic target.
Unpleasant symptoms — arising as a consequence of disease processes, comorbid conditions, therapeutics and lifestyle regimens — adversely affect the quality of life and life participation of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This Perspective examines the concept and scope of symptom burden in CKD, theoretical frameworks and validated tools for symptom appraisal, and strategies with which to support patients actively through the identification and targeting of unpleasant symptoms.
