Every minute your kidneys are hard at work, filtering around 200 litres of blood, removing waste, balancing salts and fluids, and regulating blood pressure. This happens without any conscious effort on your part.
But when your kidneys begin to fail, the consequences are devastating, including fatigue, fluid buildup and heart complications. Some people eventually need dialysis or a transplant to stay alive.
Kidney disease is one of the fastest-growing causes of death across the world. Around 850 million people are living with some form of it, more than the combined number of people affected by diabetes and cancer. Chronic kidney disease – when your kidneys slowly lose the ability to do their job – causes approximately 1.5 million deaths each year globally and that toll is rising.
