Chronic kidney disease predicts cardiovascular disease.

The prevalence of end-stage renal disease continues to rise in the United States. Even more disturbingly, the current number of patients with early chronic kidney disease — the pool from which future end-stage renal disease patients will emerge — exceeds the present number with end-stage renal disease by a factor of 30 to 60.1,2 However, early chronic kidney disease will not progress to end-stage renal disease in all patients. Indeed, many will probably die of other conditions first. Over the past few years, investigators have shown that many people in this vast pool of patients with chronic kidney disease . . .