[Kidney diseases in elderly patients].

The prevalence of CKD increases with old age. The increase of risk factors for the development of CKD such as hypertension, diabetes and adipositas is essentially responsible for this. For the treating physician it is therefore important to diagnose CKD early to slow its progression. Physiological aging of the kidney is responsible for the development of functional impairments in the elderly. Electrolyte disorders and hemodynamically caused perfusion deficits are more frequent in old age and are often caused by medication. If kidney replacement therapy in end stage renal disease in the elderly is initiated or not should not depend on age but should consider patient preference, comorbidities and quality of life, which together are ideally assessed early.