Glomerular disease refers to a group of disorders that attack the kidney’s blood-filtering units, which are called glomeruli. The disease can occur on its own or as part of another disease, such as lupus or diabetes. It is a disease that affects many American’s and can cause a high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular diseases are heart problems that affect the structures or function of the heart and are the leading cause of death in adults with reduced kidney function. To define the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with glomerular diseases, researchers analyzed information from 2000–2012 provided by a kidney pathology registry in British Columbia, Canada.
Cardiovascular Event Rates
It was found that among the 1,912 patients that were followed for an average of 6.8 years, there were 338 cardiovascular events recorded. Researchers concluded that the 10-year risk was 16% (7.7% for IgA nephropathy, 13.2% for minimal change disease, 19.4% for membranous nephropathy, and 27.0% for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis). The results clearly showed cardiovascular event rates were high both prior to and after end-stage kidney failure.
Lead author Heather Gunning from the University of British Columbia said, “Consideration of glomerular disease-specific factors can help improve cardiovascular risk prediction. Failure to take these novel factors into account will lead to underestimation of cardiovascular risk and underutilization of cardiovascular primary prevention strategies. Further research is ongoing into the impact of glomerular disease activity and therapy over time on cardiovascular risk. This will allow better understanding of the impact of glomerular disease on cardiovascular risk and whether treatment may modify this.”
As the risk for cardiovascular disease increases due to glomerular disease, it is imperative that researchers find specific relationships between the two. More research is needed to verify this study and move forward with more information to help those with kidney problems.
With more information, physicians are able to offer treatment to patients with glomerular disease to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Preventative treatments should be offered to those who are at a higher risk.