Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease Prevalent Decades Before Diagnosis

by Dr. Enozia Vakil on June 27, 2014 at 6:45 PM

A new study has found that the risk factors for chronic kidney disease are present and identifiable 30 years before diagnosis. The findings suggest avenues for future research to determine whether certain early interventions can prevent future kidney disease.

Approximately 60 million people globally have CKD. Caroline S. Fox, MD MPH, Gearoid McMahon, MB, BCh (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study and the Center for Population Studies), and their colleagues investigated whether CKD risk factors might be present decades before the diagnosis of CKD. "One of the benefits of the Framingham Heart Study is that we have a very long duration of follow-up. As a result, we are able to look far back in time prior to when individuals develop a disease to examine their risk factors," said Dr. Fox.

Diabetic Kidney Disease

Diabetic nephropathy refers to kidney damage due very high levels of blood sugar levels in diabetics.

The researchers identified 441 new cases of CKD among participants of the Framingham Heart Study, and they matched them with 882 controls who did not develop CKD. Those who ultimately developed CKD were 76% more likely to have had hypertension, 71% more likely to have been obese, and 43% more likely to have had higher triglycerides 30 years before CKD diagnosis. They were also 38% more likely to have had hypertension, 35% more likely to have had higher triglyceride levels, and nearly 3-times more likely to have had diabetes 20 years before CKD diagnosis. The more risk factors an individual had in the past, the more likely they were to develop CKD.

"This research shows that these risk factors are present long before the disease is diagnosed. This is important because it suggests that we should be addressing these risk factors earlier in life to potentially prevent future disease," said Dr. McMahon.

Source: Newswise