The age after which kidneys lose their function has been named

In people over 65, the likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) reaches 40–50%, and it develops more frequently in patients with diabetes mellitus, Oleg Kotenko, professor at the Department of General Medicine at Pirogov University and chief nephrologist of Moscow, told "Gazeta.Ru".

Chronic kidney disease is a functional condition of the kidneys that develops as a consequence of any nephrological disease. The kidneys lose — and, unfortunately, irreversibly — the ability to effectively filter blood, which leads to the accumulation of toxins and disruption of the entire body's functioning.

"CKD can develop as an outcome of diabetes mellitus, or arterial hypertension, or chronic heart failure. A person's age also contributes to the progression of chronic kidney disease. This is due to the fact that over time, the active part of the kidneys decreases, and therefore CKD occurs significantly more often with age. And in our time, patients have simply begun to live long enough to reach the point when the functional capacity of their kidneys begins to decline," the doctor explained.

According to global statistics, one in ten people suffers from chronic kidney disease to one degree or another, but this distribution is uneven.

"For example, in people over 65, the likelihood of developing CKD reaches 40–50%, and CKD develops more frequently in patients with diabetes mellitus. These facts must be taken into account; among these risk groups, there will certainly be more patients. However, due to both the general aging of the population and the improved survival rates of patients with diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases, including chronic heart failure, the detection rate of patients with CKD is growing and will continue to grow. All the listed factors, along with other, albeit less significant ones — such as excessive consumption of products with high preservative content — allow CKD to be called the 'disease of the century,'" the doctor concluded.