World Kidney Day and International Women’s Day 2018: Kidney diseases in Women - Current Knowledge and Gaps.
Giorgina B Piccoli1,2, Mona Alrukhaimi3, Zhi-Hong Liu4, Elena Zakharova5,6,7, Adeera Levin8
On behalf of the World Kidney Day Steering Committee*
*Members of the World Kidney Day Steering Committee are: Philip Kam Tao Li, Guillermo Garcia-Garcia, Mohammed Benghanem-Gharbi, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Charles Kernahan, Latha Kumaraswami, Giorgina Barbara Piccoli, Gamal Saadi, Louise Fox, Elena Zakharova, and Sharon Andreoli.
1Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Torino, Italy, 2Nephrology, Centre Hospitalier Le Mans, Le Mans, France, 3Department of Medicine, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 4National Clinical Research Center of Kidney Diseases, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, China, 5Nephrology, Moscow City Hospital n.a. S.P. Botkin, Moscow, Russian Federation, 6Nephrology, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, Moscow, Russian Federation, 7Nephrology, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Moscow, Russian Federation and 8Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT
Chronic Kidney Disease affects approximately 10% of the world’s adult population: it is within the top 20 causes of death worldwide, and its impact on patients and their families can be devastating. World Kidney Day and International Women’s Day in 2018 coincide, thus offering an opportunity to reflect on the importance of women’s health and specifically their kidney health, on the community, and the next generations, as well as to strive to be more curious about the unique aspects of kidney disease in women so that we may apply those learnings more broadly.
Girls and women, who make up approximately 50% of the world’s population, are important contributors to society and their families. Gender differences continue to exist around the world in access to education, medical care, and participation in clinical studies. Pregnancy is a unique state for women, offering an opportunity for diagnosis of kidney disease, but also a state where acute and chronic kidney diseases may manifest, and which may impact future generations with respect to kidney health. There are various autoimmune and other conditions that are more likely to impact women with profound consequences for child bearing, and on the fetus. Women have different complications on dialysis than men, and are more likely to be donors than recipients of kidney transplants.
In this editorial, we focus on what we do and do not know about women, kidney health, and kidney disease, and what we might learn in the future to improve outcomes worldwide.
Keywords: Women, Health Services Accessibility, Acute Kidney Injury, Chronic Kidney Disease, Healthcare Disparities, International Women’s Day 2018, World Kidney Day 2018
Correspondence: A. Levin, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Email: alevin@providencehealth.bc.ca.
Brunei Int Med J. 2018;14:1-16