Why would kidney damage be identified and treated later in women? In the show “It’s going a lot better” on RTL, on September 23, 2026, Dr. Jimmy Mohamed, doctor and presenter, relays an alert: chronic kidney disease, which can progress to kidney failure, affects approximately one in ten women worldwide.
Women and kidney disease: what the American alert points out
The doctor relies on a scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in Traffic. This document is not an isolated clinical study, but a synthesis intended to draw attention to several persistent inequalities in women’s kidney health.
First point reported in the show: diagnoses are more often delayed in women. This is a major issue, because chronic kidney disease can remain silent for a long time. To understand the possible signs, tests and treatments, our file on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatments of kidney failure details the basics to know.
Second point highlighted by Dr Jimmy Mohamed: women remain underrepresented in chronic kidney disease clinical trials. He reminds us that biology, hormonal life and sometimes response to medications can differ from those of men. If research data mainly includes men, certain questions specific to women may therefore be less well documented.
Third element: once the disease has been identified, access to the heaviest treatments would not be equivalent. According to this scientific statement, women are less likely to start dialysis or receive a kidney transplant, and
men would receive around 30% more kidney transplants worldwide. This does not mean that all women are less well taken care of in all healthcare systems, but that gaps in access exist and deserve to be corrected.
The kidneys are not just for urinating: what to watch out for
In his column, Dr. Jimmy Mohamed emphasizes a simple idea: reducing the kidneys to the production of urine is misleading. The kidneys filter the blood, participate in the balance of water, salt and minerals, contribute to the control of blood pressure, activate vitamin D and produce erythropoietin, involved in the production of red blood cells. To go further, True Medical also explains the role of the kidneys and the signs of a kidney problem.
The doctor also points out that a kidney that functions less well is part of a broader overall risk: chronic kidney disease is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. This is a medical risk association, not an individual prediction. This is why blood pressure, diabetes and other risk factors should be monitored with a healthcare professional.
When it comes to everyday actions, Dr Jimmy Mohamed qualifies a preconceived idea: it is generally not helpful to force yourself to drink very large amounts of water. Drinking according to your thirst is often enough, with intake adapted to the heat, physical activity and medical instructions. People with kidney or heart disease, on dialysis, transplant recipients, pregnant, elderly or under certain treatments must follow the recommendations given to them.
The points to discuss with your doctor are concrete:
- Monitor blood pressurebecause excess salt can promote hypertension, itself harmful to the kidneys;
- Monitor diabetes when it existsbecause poorly controlled chronic hyperglycemia increases renal risk;
- Taking obesity into account as a medical risk factorparticularly via its links with hypertension and diabetes, without making the people concerned feel guilty;
- Ask if a kidney function check is relevant depending on your ageits history and its treatments.
The High Authority for Health recommends, in people at risk such as those living with diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, biological monitoring combining in particular blood creatinine, estimation of the glomerular filtration rate and testing for albuminuria. The creatinine dosage, cited by Dr Jimmy Mohamed, is therefore useful, but it alone is not enough to make a complete diagnosis.
The frequency of this check depends on the medical profile and is decided with the attending physician. In chronic kidney disease, the loss of kidney function is lasting and its progression can sometimes be slowed; conversely, some acute injuries can recover. This is one more reason not to wait for obvious symptoms when you already have risk factors, for example high blood pressure and a known risk of kidney failure.