Chronic kidney disease can be heavily influenced by heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, heart failure, and blood pressure. Maintaining proper heart health is also important for your kidneys. If left unattended, chronic kidney disease can ultimately lead to kidney failure.
Below you will find a selection of our articles discussing chronic kidney disease, related conditions, and tips to help keep your kidneys healthy.
Heart disease risk in chronic kidney disease patients may increase with dietary phosphate
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Heart disease risk in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients may increase with dietary phosphate. Patients with CKD cannot excrete excess phosphate into the urine, so it accumulates in the blood. This accumulation of phosphate in the blood is a well-known risk factor for CKD, which raises patients’ risk of heart disease.
The researchers examined the effects of phosphate in the blood on cells and blood vessels. The experiments revealed that high phosphate levels trigger stress signals inside the cells, causing fragments of the cells to break off and form blood clots. Lead researcher Alan Bevington explained, “This is important because blocking of blood vessels by blood clots — a process known as thrombosis — is a common cause of injury and death, occurring in a wide range of human illnesses including CKD.” Continue reading…
Chronic kidney disease risk in type 2 diabetes patients may be reduced with diet, moderate alcohol intake
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk in type 2 diabetes patients may be reduced with diet and moderate alcohol intake. The study involved 6,213 patients with type 2 diabetes. After 5.5 years of follow-up, 31.7 percent of patients developed chronic kidney disease and 8.3 percent died.
Compared to the patients with the lowest healthy scoring on diet quality, the healthiest group had a lower risk of chronic kidney disease and lower mortality risk. Further findings indicate that patients who consumed more than three servings of fruit per week had a lower risk of chronic kidney disease, compared to those who consumed fruit less frequently. Continue reading…
Depression coincided with chronic kidney disease raises kidney failure risk in older adults: Study
Depression coinciding with chronic kidney disease raises kidney failure risk in older adults. The researchers studied 5,785 people over the age of 65 from four different counties across the U.S. The participants completed questionnaires to uncover depressive symptoms and a broad range of medical measurements. The researchers examined whether depression predicted the onset of kidney disease or other medical problems that involved the kidneys.
The findings uncovered that depression coincided with the presence of chronic kidney disease and was 20 percent more common in individuals with kidney disease. Depression also predicted a steady progression in kidney disease. Continue reading…
Elderly with chronic kidney disease face higher coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke risk
Elderly with chronic kidney disease face higher coronary heart disease, heart failure, or stroke risk. You may not necessarily think about the link between the kidneys and the heart, but the two actually share many risk factors which can bring on damage or illness.
The main role of the heart is to pump out oxygenated blood, enabling all organs in the body to function properly. The kidneys’ role is to filter blood, remove waste, and help balance salt and fluids to ensure healthy blood pressure.
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Numerous studies have demonstrated a higher risk of kidney disease in patients with heart failure. Kidney impairment makes the system regulating blood pressure work extra hard, so the heart pumps against higher pressure in the arteries. Continue reading…
Chronic kidney disease risk reduced with DASH diet in addition to lowered blood pressure: Study
Chronic kidney disease risk may be reduced with the DASH diet, a style of eating recommended to lower blood pressure. The diet consists of legumes, nuts, low sodium, low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. The study found that aside from lowering blood pressure, the DASH diet offers an extra benefit of reducing the risk of developing chronic kidney disease over the span of two decades.
Study leader Casey M. Rebholz said, “In addition to offering other health benefits, consuming a DASH-style diet could help reduce the risk of developing kidney disease. The great thing about this finding is that we aren’t talking about a fad diet. This is something that many physicians already recommend to help prevent chronic disease.” Continue reading…
