About 10% of the adult population of the world suffers from chronic kidney disease, which is on the list of the top 20 causes of death worldwide and leads to disastrous consequences for both patients and their families. In 2018, the World Kidney Day coincides with the International Women's Day, which gives us reason to think about the special importance of women's health status, especially about "kidney health", for the living population and for future generations. It seems to us not only a unique opportunity to learn as much as possible about the features of kidney diseases in women, but also to make greater use of the knowledge gained.
Women, adolescents and girls in general make up about 50% of the world's population and make a huge contribution to the life of society, without mentioning the most important role in family life. However, gender differences in access to education, health care and participation in clinical research still exist almost everywhere. Pregnancy, which exerts a special load for the woman's body, and often becomes an excuse for identifying existing kidney diseases, can also lead to the manifestation of acute and chronic kidney diseases, which in turn can affect the offspring, including status of kidneys. Many autoimmune and other diseases develop more often in women than in men, and adversely affect fertility and fetus. Complications of dialysis in women differ from those in men, in addition, women are more likely to be donors than recipients of a kidney transplant.
In this editorial, we have focused on what we know and what we do not know about "kidney health" and kidney diseases in women, and on what we can and should learn in the future to improve the outcomes of kidney diseases worldwide.