We often hear about the detrimental effects associated with heart disease and cancer.

But many people don’t give their kidneys enough serious thought.

A decrease in healthy eating and regular exercise has spurred an increase in hypertension and diabetes — two major causes of chronic kidney disease — and the problem is only getting worse.

Chronic kidney disease is damage to your kidney or the presence of conditions that can eventually cause kidney damage. Although anyone can get chronic kidney disease at any age, the main causes are diabetes and high blood pressure.

There are almost 400,000 patients on hemodialysis — a technique in which a machine filters wastes out of a patient’s blood once the kidney fails — in the United States. Unfortunately, hemodialysis has its own problems, and one of the biggest challenges is being able to achieve trouble-free vascular access.

So, what do we mean by vascular access?

In order to take blood out of a patient’s body, purify it in a dialysis machine and return the blood to the patient, we need a device which allows this to happen efficiently. This device is called “vascular access” and is, in fact, the patient’s “lifeline.” The three most common forms of vascular access are an arteriovenous fistula, a vascular graft and a dialysis catheter.

In August, UC Health nephrologists opened a new comprehensive Vascular Access Center at the Surgical Hospital in West Chester to help specialists treat patients with hemodialysis vascular access problems.

Hemodialysis is not always unavoidable, but for some, there are ways to prevent the onset of kidney disease, and it starts with taking care of yourself.

Early diagnosis and prevention are always better than a cure.

Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, MD, PhD, is a UC Health nephrologist and the medical director of the UC Health Vascular Access Center in West Chester. Davinder Wadehra MD, is a UC Health interventional nephrologist who practices at the UC Health Vascular Access Center. To schedule an appointment at the UC Health Vascular Access Center, call (513) 475-8310.