• Steven Reinberg
• Posted January 9, 2020

Heart Disease May Up Risk of Kidney Failure

Heart disease may increase your odds for kidney failure, a new study finds.

"Individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease should be recognized as a high-risk population for kidney failure," said study leader Dr. Junichi Ishigami, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"Physicians should be aware of cardiovascular disease as an important risk condition, and thereby minimize treatments that are toxic to the kidneys in such individuals," Ishigami said in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology.

The study of more than 9,000 people found those suffering from heart failure, the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease and stroke all have a greater risk of developing kidney failure.

For heart failure, the risk for kidney failure was more than 11 times higher, compared with those without heart disease.

None of the study participants had heart disease at the start of the study. Over a median follow-up of nearly 18 years, 1,270 were hospitalized with heart failure, 1,300 with atrial fibrillation, 700 with coronary heart disease, and 600 with stroke. Among these patients, 210 developed kidney failure.

The report was published Jan. 9 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

More information

For more on kidney failure, see the American Kidney Fund.

SOURCE: American Society of Nephrology, news release, Jan. 9, 2020