NIDDK Health Information News

March is National Kidney Month, a time to raise awareness about chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevention and early detection. CKD means your kidneys are damaged and can’t filter blood the way they should and is estimated to affect more than 30 million American adults. Protect your health and the health of your loved ones by learning about your family health history and talking about the importance of the kidney health.

Multi-generation African Americanfamily sitting outside

Healthy Women, Healthy Families

Be a role model! Help your family and loved ones protect their kidneysby adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Certain factors may increase your risk for developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), such as your family history, ethnicity, or having type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure. CKD affects more women than men, but most people with this condition don’t know they have it. People with early CKD usually have no symptoms, so it’s important for people who are at increased risk to talk to their doctor about getting tested for CKD.

Two older African-American women and one African-American man sitting in a church

Share Kidney Health with Your Faith Community

The NIDDK’s Kidney Sundays program was developed to help faith communities start the conversation about kidney health and chronic kidney disease (CKD) screening. If you would like to be a kidney health champion in your community, the NIDDK has resources to help you plan a Kidney Sundays event. Any Sunday can be a Kidney Sunday!