Kidney disease profile shifts: Diabetes-linked CKD rises as overall US rate stalls

by Boston University School of Medicine

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Sadie Harley

Scientific Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process

Andrew Zinin

Chief Editor

Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

proofread

The GIST Add as preferred source

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is common, largely silent and serious. Most people who have the condition do not realize they have it, while it sharply raises the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and early death. Over the past decade, the share of American adults living with CKD has remained consistent. Roughly 1 in 7 U.S. adults—about 15%—had CKD in 2013, and approximately 1 in 7 still had it in 2023. What has changed is the type of kidney disease.

In a new study, researchers found that the proportion of Americans with kidney disease driven by diabetes rose from 4.7% to 5.7% (about a 30% relative increase), while kidney disease not linked to diabetes held steady. The findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Our study reveals a concerning trend in the United States, where CKD is increasingly associated with diabetes," says corresponding author Ashish Verma, MBBS, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

"This is the first CKD study to utilize the recently released survey data spanning a decade, encompassing the period during which the first therapies specifically approved to protect the kidneys, namely SGLT2 inhibitors and finerenone (a nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) that mitigates the risk of kidney failure), were introduced into the market.

"Remarkably, despite these advancements, overall CKD rates have remained stagnant. This finding underscores the urgent need for further research and intervention to address the escalating burden of CKD in the context of diabetes.

How the researchers measured CKD

The researchers analyzed records of 25,106 adults (aged 20 and older) from 2013 to 2023 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a rolling government study that brings a representative sample of Americans to exam centers for interviews, physical measurements, blood and urine tests. For every participant, they ran two kidney tests.

The first, from a blood sample, measures how well the kidneys are filtering waste (estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR). The second, from a urine sample, measures whether protein is leaking through the kidneys (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio). Anyone with an abnormal result on either test was classified as having CKD.

They then tracked how the rate of CKD changed over 10 years—overall, and within groups defined by age, sex, race and ethnicity, income, and conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and heart disease.

Disparities widened across groups

In addition to the increasing cases of diabetes-induced CKD, researchers found the incidence gap between people with lower and higher educational attainment had widened, suggesting that social and economic circumstances, not just biology, help determine who develops kidney disease.

CKD in men also appears to be inching upward while the rate in women has held steady. Additionally, Black Americans continue to have CKD rates close to 1 in 5—substantially higher than white Americans—with no narrowing over the 10 years.

Kidney disease is increasingly intertwined

According to the researchers, the shift in CKD increasing in the context of diabetes may suggest that a growing proportion of the population is at risk for progressive cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.

"What we're seeing is that kidney disease no longer travels alone. About 1 in 4 Americans with heart disease also has CKD, and the links between kidney disease, heart failure, and diabetes are getting stronger, not weaker. This is what the American Heart Association now calls cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, and it means single-organ care isn't enough," adds first author Sophie Claudel, MD, clinical instructor of nephrology at BU and a nephrology resident at Boston Medical Center.

Publication details

Trends and Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States, New England Journal of Medicine (2026).

Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine

Key medical concepts

Chronic Kidney DiseaseDiabetesEstimated Glomerular Filtration Rate

Clinical categories

NephrologyEndocrinology Provided by Boston University School of Medicine Who's behind this story?

Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

Citation: Kidney disease profile shifts: Diabetes-linked CKD rises as overall US rate stalls (2026, July 8) retrieved 8 July 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-kidney-disease-profile-shifts-diabetes.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.