Nephroprevention in the oldest old with chronic kidney disease: Special considerations

Abstract

Nephroprevention strategies are crucial for handling chronic kidney disease (CKD) complications, and slowing its progression. However, these preventative measures should be guided by major geriatrics principles in order to help nephrologists to adequately handle the oldest old with CKD. These geriatric concepts consist of taking into account the relevance of choosing an individualized therapy, handling clinical frailty, and keeping a geriatric perspective which means that a good quality of life is sometimes a more important therapeutic objective in octogenarians than merely prolonging life. Even though nephroprevention strategies for treating the oldest old with CKD are basically similar to those applied to younger patients such as low sodium and protein diet, optimized hemoglobin levels, blood pressure and metabolic control, the treating physician or care provider must at all times be ready to make fundamental adjustments and tweak patient care paradigms and objectives if and when the initial therapeutic options applied have caused unintended clinical consequences and complications. Additionally, the sarcopenia status should also be evaluated and treated in very old CKD patients.

Keywords: Chronic kidney disease; Chronic nephropathy; Nephroprevention; Oldest old; Very old.