As the baby boomers in our country are now approaching age 60, the incidence of kidney disease is actually climbing.

Nephrologist Joel Van Sickler says, "50% of the patients that are sitting in the dialysis chairs are there because of poorly controlled hypertension and poorly controlled diabetes."

Diabetes and high blood pressure-the two most common causes of kidney failure. Dave Hamway knows the importance of early detection of this condition and his journey began with maintaining his blood pressure. "I've been since I was 20 years old, been taking medication to keep that down. I have regular checkups to make sure the blood pressure isn't spiking."

Dr. Van Sickler says that high blood pressure has often been known as the silent killer and in many ways kidney disease is the same, that's because the symptoms can be so vague. "The symptoms of kidney disease are nausea, vomiting, the skin may itch, you may lose your appetite, I mean, they're relatively non-specific.

Early detection and maintaining health issues like high blood pressure and diabetes are key to prevent and slow the progression of kidney disease. Dave says this is as easy as visiting your doctor. "The dangerous thing is that most people with this disease had no idea they had it. Everybody should have a doctor, everybody should have a physical once a year."

There is a need for greater emphasis on the early detection of kidney disease and for people to know that getting treated can slow the progress of this condition.

20 million Americans - 1 in 9 adults - have chronic kidney disease and another 20 million more are at increased risk.