More than 700 million people worldwide suffer from chronic kidney disease (CKD), 1,2 and the prevalence of the disease is further increasing. In 1990, CKD was ranked 27th in the list of causes of the total number of global deaths, whereas in 2010 it was already placed 18th. 3 In 2017, CKD was the 12th leading cause of death worldwide (1.2 million deaths). 4 The epidemiological characteristics of CKD vary