Kidney Disease Doubles Risk of Heart Failure, Study Argues for Kidney Monitoring

A new study that could have change treatment for lowering cardiovascular disease risk, reveals that kidney health is more potent an indicator than blood pressure and cholesterol measurements.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analyzed 24 past studies with eGFR and albuminuria test data. The 637,000 participants in the studies did were not at risk for cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. Researchers found that both tests were able to predict risk of heart failure, with albuminuria, amount of protein in urine, being a stronger predictor. The test had bettered both cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure measurements. The study found that people with chronic kidney disease were twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

"If health care providers have data on kidney damage and kidney function - which they often do - they should be using those data to better understand a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure tests are good indicators of cardiovascular risk, but they are not perfect. This study tells us we could do even better with information that often times we are already collecting," said study's lead author Kunihiro Matsushita at the Bloomberg School's Department of Epidemiology.

Though the study did not explain the link between kidney and heart health, Matsushita said build up of fluid could lead to heart failure.