High salt consumption is associated with a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a new Tulane University study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) this week. Initial analysis found that almost 11 percent of the obese Mexican Americans had increased levels of protein albumin in their urine, a condition called albuminuria. This is a condition known as albuminuria which is a sign of reduced kidney function.
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According to Dr. Naveed Masani, a kidney disease specialist at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, the results or the advice to lower the sodium ingest should not be in general to all patients with chronic kidney failure due to the fact that everyone react differently when some external factors come to place.
Previous studies have shown that obesity can damage kidney function long before hypertension or diabetes. Abdominal obesity (defined as a waist circumference ≥102 cm (40 inches) in males and ≥88 cm (35 inches) in females) was present in 45 percent of blacks, 40 percent of Mexican-Americans, and 37 percent of whites.
The report added that the results revealed that obesity should be considered an independent risk factor for CKD and that doctors should be testing for kidney damage when evaluating obese young adults. This was four times the risk of Mexican Americans with a normal weight. “A healthier lifestyle in young adults will go a long way toward promoting kidney health later in life”.
The team from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, in New Orleans, evaluated almost 4,000 patients with chronic kidney disease from seven US locations.
On the other hand, almost six percent of the blacks and whites had albuminuria. In addition, the team wanted to look at the factors that increase the risk and the role played by race and ethnicity in in linking CKD to abdominal obesity. Among all participants with albuminuria, less than 5 percent had ever been told they were suffering from kidney disease. Past studies have found that abdominal obesity negatively affects the kidneys much earlier than diabetes or high blood pressure. This suggests that greater awareness is needed, letting both patients and doctors know that being obese means a risk of CKD.
The team discovered that young adults with normal blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and glucose too had albuminuria.
The researchers noted that in America, about one in every 10 people is suffering from chronic kidney disease, and over one-third of the adults in the U.S. have heart disease. “Clearly, clinicians and public health officials need to do more to identify and treat young people at risk for early progressive kidney disease so they can adopt the behavioral changes to prevent [kidney disease] from occurring”.
CKD patients with daily sodium above 4,548 mg may help protect their cardiovascular health by reducing sodium in their diets, researchers suggested.
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The medical history of the participants were also followed unto the year 2013. The researchers noted that more than 23% of the participants in the high-sodum intake group experiences a heart attack in comparison to the 8% of the people who had the least daily sodium intake.
