March 13th 2014 – World Kidney Day

Celebrated on the second Thursday in March, the mission of World Kidney Day is to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys to our overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. The purpose is to raise public awareness about the importance of renal function, prevent the occurrence of chronic kidney disease, early detection and treatment of kidney patients. By raising awareness of risk factors there is hope of preventing kidney disease. Risk factors include high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking, age over 50 and presence of kidney disease in family history.
 

This year's World Kidney Day takes place under the theme "The kidneys grow old with you – Chronic kidney disease and aging". Founders want to draw attention to renal impairment in elderly. Early signs of renal disease are high blood pressure and protein in the urine, which is also risk for cardiovascular disease.