Chronic kidney disease affects nearly 15 percent of the U.S. population. Onset and rate of progression are influenced by a combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. Because health care systems across the U.S. are beginning to deploy automated decision support to stratify patients at risk, we review the relative impact of genetic factors (e.g., APOL1 gene polymorphisms) and non-genetic factors (e.g., clinical comorbidities and exposure to environmental nephrotoxins) contributing to this common disease. Overall, the impact of non-genetic factors appears to exceed the impact of genetic factors.
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