The experience of living with chronic kidney disease

Abstract

The main challenges faced by health systems are aging and chronic diseases. Among these, Chronic Kidney Disease is characterized by being a debilitating disease, caused by a gradual and progressive loss of renal function, which affects the person and his surroundings (Gill 2012). The number of people with Chronic Kidney Disease and Terminal Chronic Renal Failure continues to increase exponentially, being a public health problem that could reach severe epidemic proportions. There are several important factors for its development, such as aging, cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes mellitus, considered to be responsible for its increasing incidence (Ayar et al. 2017).In 2010, more than 2  million people in the world were treated for this disease (Warady & Chadha 2007). In the United States, during the year 2013, the incidence of people diagnosed with this disease varied from 6.3 to 9.2% (Bassett & O’Malley 2014). It is estimated that, by 2030, approximately 2.2 million people will require renal replacement therapy (Mezzano A & Aros E 2005). The main treatment options are: kidney transplantation or dialysis, and given the limitations of kidney transplantation, it is recognized that most people enter a renal replacement therapy (Ayar et al. 2017).