[31] At the same time, however, although secondary prevention

with ACE inhibitors and ARB appears to be having an impact on the incidence of DM-ESKD, steady growth in diabetes prevalence and improved survival outcomes over time will necessarily yield an increasingly large number with DKD, who are at significantly elevated risk of myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality. Reducing the burden of kidney disease-related morbidity and mortality in the diabetes population will therefore not only require consolidation of gains with respect to the prevention of DM-ESKD, but also upstream prevention: prevention of diabetes onset, early detection of diabetes, effective glycaemic Selleckchem Rapamycin and blood pressure control (Fig. 5). The health care burden associated with DKD and DM-ESKD in Australia is significant learn more and expanding, driven

primarily by the steady growth in T2DM prevalence over the past three decades. The contribution of pre-ESKD DKD to this health care burden has been under-appreciated; total per annum costs to the health system are likely to exceed those associated with KRT provision by approximately three-fold. Although the incidence of DM-ESKD may be slowing, the predicted doubling in the prevalence of T2DM in Australia between 2000 and 2025 indicates that, in absolute terms, the number of Australian adults living with DKD will continue to grow substantially. Minimizing the health care burden associated with this population, and maximizing health outcomes, will depend on the success of primary and secondary prevention strategies (Box 1). Multiple opportunities

exist for prevention along the entire disease continuum – from the population at risk of diabetes onset to the population with established diabetic nephropathy. Over the past two decades, medical advances in the management of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy have produced significant improvements in the rate of progression selleck of diabetic nephropathy, such that a patients diagnosed with diabetes today are significantly less likely to develop ESKD across the life-course than a patient diagnosed 20 years ago. Thus, although we estimate that the number of Australians with DKD will likely double by 2025, the outcomes that this population will experience are highly modifiable. Preventing the progression of diabetes to DKD and then to DM-ESKD through glycaemic control, blood pressure control, and renin–angiotensin blockade will be critical in addressing the health burden attributable to DKD in Australia.