America has a kidney problem. The federal government has the power to help solve it.

Today, 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease (CKD)—that’s one out of every seven U.S. adults. The majority have CKD as a result of diabetes or hypertension, but CKD isn’t a mere side effect of those conditions; it is its own dangerous disease. As it gets worse, people can experience high blood pressure, anemia, nerve damage, gout—and ultimately, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and death.

A shocking 90% of the people in the early stages of CKD don’t know they have it. CKD does its damage silently, often over many years, so people do not experience symptoms until later stages.

Given the scale of the CKD epidemic, kidney health needs to become a routine part of the doctor-patient conversation. But we also need to encourage innovation in new treatments for kidney disease and kidney failure. That’s where the federal government must align and take a leadership role.

Click here to see the full article on the Fierce Healthcare website.