Traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a public health problem, with as many as 20 million individuals affected in the United States. Patients with CKD should be considered in the highest-risk group for development of cardiovascular disease, and aggressive treatment of traditional and nontraditional risk factors should be instituted. Additional randomized controlled trials are urgently needed to evaluate potential treatments in this population. This article focuses attention on the major modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in CKD.