ABSTRACT
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2008 nearly 8% of the population in the United States had diabetes (National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2008; USRDS, 2009). Diabetes incidence is increasing worldwide, and it has been predicted that this incidence will double by the year 2030 (Wild et al., 2004). The Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease Work Group of the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI™) states that the burden of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is appearing in Africa, India, Asia, and the Paci”c Islands replacing infectious disease, which was previously thought to be the greatest threat (NKF, 2007). World Kidney Day 2010, under the auspices of the International Society of Nephrology and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations and with the International Diabetes Federation, has now established a day recognizing the need to alert governments, health providers, doctors, and patients of the increasing health and socioeconomic problems related to DKD (Atkins and Zimmet, 2010).
