Lab tests for reduced kidney function

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Routine lab tests can pick up people with reduced kidney function, enabling those at risk to be identified early on.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is known to be a risk factor for heart disease. Its early detection is important because CKD progresses to kidney failure, but treatment can slow down or even prevent this happening.

Researchers at the University of Western Ontario now reveal that lab testing carried out for other reasons could provide a new approach for detecting CKD in the general population. They carried out tests on 350,000 individuals, which represented a third of the population in the study area. In around half, a low glomerular filtration rate was found; this is an indicator of CKD. Such lab-based screening of the population might be a useful way of detecting and treating early CKD, say the researchers, and of preventing later complications.

Source
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology online 30th March (print May 2005)