DAVAO CITY, March 23 -- Diabetes continues to be the top cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among Filipinos, a local nephrologist said.

Dr. Ma. Theresa Bad-ang, nephrologist and head of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC)-Human Advocate and Retrieval Effort, noted that other contributing factors include hypertension, genetic chronic nephritis, kidney stones, and urinary tract infections.

"Diabetes is the number one because sometimes you do not know if you are diabetic or not. The earliest screening to detect kidney problems is urinalysis - checking for protein, which is the first sign of kidney failure," she explained in an interview Sunday night.

CKD is a long-term, progressive loss of kidney function that often leads to...