This document discusses the differences between how epidemiologists and nephrologists view chronic kidney disease (CKD). Epidemiologists see CKD primarily as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk based on database associations. Nephrologists argue that CKD in older adults is usually actually cardiovascular-kidney damage (C-K-D), as older adults generally have underlying CVD manifested as reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and albuminuria. The quality of CKD epidemiology studies is questionable as the definitions may not be clinically useful or interpreted properly. More evidence and critical thinking is needed to close the gap between these perspectives.