site.btaChronic Kidney Failure to Be Fifth Leading Cause of Death by 2040

Bulgaria is one of the few countries where World Kidney Day is celebrated without interruption since its inception in 2006, said Dr Vasil Todorov from the Heart and Brain Center of Clinical Excellence at a press conference in Pleven on Thursday.

He pointed out that in Bulgaria a single screening for chronic kidney disease was conducted, in 2012, when over 2,000 people in 12 regions in the country were examined. The results showed that the incidence of chronic kidney failure was 13%. In Europe, one in 10 people has reduced kidney function, Todorov noted. "With increasing age, the incidence of the disease increases, from 6% at the age of 20 to 44, to 25.4% for people over 60", he stressed.

Currently, chronic kidney failure ranks eighth as a cause of death, but is predicted to take fifth place by 2040, Todorov emphasised.

The incidence of kidney disease and the incidence of its final stage, chronic kidney failure, is constantly increasing, he said, adding that the most common risk factors for its development are high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and increased salt consumption, amongst others.

World Kidney Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world every second Thursday in March. Its goal is not strictly scientific, but to increase people's awareness of their kidney health, as well as the importance of early prevention of kidney diseases.