If you've cared for someone with heart disease, you may already know about the heart and kidney connection. Because the same two common conditions damage the heart and the kidneys -- high blood pressure and diabetes -- diseases of both organs commonly go hand in hand.Though health experts have long known of the connection, a recent study of 37,000 adults -- average age 53 -- found that the effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on the heart is much more alarming than first thought. During the study, experts looked for three markers that indicated CKD:
- the rate the kidneys filtered blood
- the level of the protein albumin in the urine
- anemia
What they found was that as these markers rose, so did the risk of heart disease, and that those with CKD and heart problems had triple the risk of dying from heart related problems in a 2.5 year period. And the effect is visible in reverse -- those with heart disease were twice as likely to develop kidney problems.
What this means to you, the patient, is this:
- Cardiac patients should have their kidney functioning closely monitored.
- High-risk patients should know their GFR, or the rate their kidneys filter blood. Some experts believe ALL adults should know this number. A normal GFR is 120.
- Kidney disease should be treated aggressively with drugs like ACE inhibitors.
- CKD patients should have cardiac risk factors -- like high blood pressure -- tightly controlled.
