One in 7 Americans (approximately 30 million individuals) has chronic kidney disease (CKD). Beyond heightened risk of end-stage renal disease, these individuals are at high risk of cardiovascular disease, frailty, cognitive impairment, and premature death. Chronic kidney disease is widely recognized as a major public health concern in both the United States and worldwide. Diabetes is the most common cause of CKD, and most epidemiology texts list hypertension as the second most common cause. However, some experts believe that hypertension may in fact be the consequence rather than the cause of this large fraction of CKD,1 and in the absence of biopsy data in most patients, the actual cause remains unclear. Identifying novel risk factors for the development and progression of CKD is important, particularly if such factors are common in the population and modifiable.